
.'ATION. 



OFT'ICIAL l>OX.^ 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



HEARINGS 



/O"] 



BEFORE THE 



COMMITTEE 0?( WAYS AND MEANS, 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



B8th CONGRESS, 2d SESSION, 



CONSISTING OF 



Sereno E. Payne, of New York, Chairman. 



John Dalzell, of Pennsylvania. 
Charles H. Grosvenor, of Ohio. 
James A. Tawney, of Minnesota. 
Samuel W. McCall, of Massachusetts 
Joseph W. Babcock, of Wisconsin. 
Victor H. Metcalf, of California. 
Ebenezer J. Hill, of Connecticut. 
Henry S. Boutell, of Illinois. 

Hull Greenfield, Clerk 
* Mr. CocKRAN appointed to committee March 10, 1904. 



James E. Watson, of Indiana. 
Charles Curtis, of Kansas. 
John S. Williams, of Mississippi. 
Samuel M. Robertson, of Louisiana. 
Claude A. Swanson, of Virginia. 
Sam BroNvSon Cooper, of Texas. 
Champ Clark, of Missouri. 
* Wm. Bourke Cockran, of New York. 



MARCH 9 and 10, 1904. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 



<^ 



TABLE OF CO^^TENTS. 



Resolution under consideration 57 

Members present at hearings 1, 19, 39 

Statements of: 

Mr. Elliott- 
Main statements 1-10, 41-52 

Incidental remarks 11, 13, 16, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 36, 54, 55 

Exhibits, tables, etc., filed with committee. 

Mr. Faulkner — 

Main statements 10-18, 1 9-33 

Incidental remarks 5, 46, 51 

References to Jordan's Report, 1898 33 

Mr. Hitchcock- 
Main statements 34-39, 52-56 

Incidental remarks 42, 50 

Tables submitted 57-59 

Mr. Ivey 39^1 

APPENDIX. 

Resolution under consideration 57 

Tables submitted by Mr. Hitchcock 57-59 

Exhibits, etc., submitted by Mr. Elliott 59-76 



FDR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



Committee on Ways and Means, 

Wednesday^ March 5, WOJi,. 

The committee this day met at 10.30 o'clock a. m., Hon. Sereno E. 
Payne in the chair. 

Members present: The chairman, Messrs. Dalzell, Grosvenor, 
Tawney, McCall, Metcalf, Hill, Boutell, Watson, Curtis, Williams, 
Robertson, Swanson, Cooper, and Clark. 

The Chairman. This meeting was called this morning at the request 
of Mr. Williams, of Mississippi, and it is a hearing on the resolution 
(H. J. Res. 124) introduced March 2, 1904, by Mr. Robinson, of Indiana. 
(See p. 57.) Mr. Williams, whom do you desire to hear first? 

Mr. Williams. I do not care, but 1 think Mr. Elliott vould like to 
be heard first. 

Mr. Tawney. How much time do j^ou want? 

Mr. Elliott. I can hardly tell 3'ou. If I can print these tables and 
facts, 1 will not desire very much time. 

The Chairman. Well, how much time? 

Mr. Elliott. Not over thirty minutes. 

The Chairman. We will give you thirty minutes, and you can print 
all you want to. 

Mr. Elliott. Then I will try to quit when my thirt^^ minutes have 
expired. 

STATEMENT OF MR. HENRY W. ELLIOTT. 

(See also p. 41.) 

Mi\ Elliott. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I 
stood here before you two years ago, and I believe I told you that we 
would find trouble if we did not check up our people and the Canadian 
hunters inside of two years. I told you that before the Canadian 
hunters had finished that Klc our people would accomplish it them- 
selves under existing rules and regulations. We have now come face 
to face with the realization of my prophecy. We have the evidence 
here in black and white. We have the evidence here that during the 
last four 3"ears the killing on the islands has run down to the very 
dregs of the \^oung male life which the law allows them to kill. We 
have that evidence in indisputable, incontestable figures furnished by 
the agents of the contractors themselves. We have that evidence fur 
nished by the agents of the Government, although it is clouded, doc- 
tored, and concealed, in the reports of the Secretaiy of the Treasuiy. 

I would not be here, Mr. Chairman, if the report of the Secretary 
of the Treasury told you all of the truth. It would not be necessary 
for me to come down here and make an argument of the kind I am 



2 FUR SEALS OB^ ALASKA. 

about to make. But wh«>n we are face to face, as a recent Senatorial 
investi«:atino- conmiittce declares, with a condition of affairs on the 
Fribilof Islands which demands our immediate action in holdino- up 
the hands of our own })utchers on the islands and payinj^ no attention 
to the men in the sea who are killing seals there I think I am justified 
in coming- before you again. 

Mr. Chairman, the Secretary of the Treasury, in his last annual 
report to Congress, and just l)efore he turned it over to the Secretary 
of Commerce and Lal)()r last summer, July 1, devotes two short para- 
graphs to this question only. There is not a line in those paragraphs 
which speaks of the slightest danger to this life up there; not a hint in 
it that he intends or thinks it is proper to stop any killing that is now 
allowed by law up there; not a word al)out the pelagic hunters who 
have taken 27,000 skins there; there is in its text not the slightest sug- 
gestion that anything is wrong, and it passes from him and goes to the 
Secretary of Commerce and Laljor on the 1st of July last. 

Mr. Dalzell. I have just read this resolution for the first time. Is 
there any contract in existence? 

Mr. P^LLiOTT. I am coming to that. Oh, yes; I will explain that 
fullj^; I know about that. I aided Mr. Windom in drawing that up. 
He consulted with me over it, having at the time an idea that he might 
be obliged to suspend the work of the lessees wholly or in part verv 
soon. 

The Chairman. I would suggest that you spend more time on that 
matter than the other. Of course every member knows more or less 
about the seal fisheries. I presume you have gotten all this in those 
printed documents ? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes. 

The Chairman. I would suggest that you address yourself more 
particularly to this point — whetiier this is a remedy and whether there 
are any difficulties in the way or contracts in the way. 

Mr. Elliott. I simply wanted to show the warrant for my being 
here, on account of the deficiency of knowledge in these departmental 
reports. Mr. Cortelyou on the 1st of July takes this up. He 
inherits these agents of the Treasury Department and he inherits all 
the machinery of the business without any knowledge of it himself; 
and, in one sense of the word, of course, he is in no way responsible 
for anything that has taken place. He takes it up, and in his first 
annual report he gives you an itemized account of what they have 
taken on those islands, but he does not allude to the work of the 
pelagic sealers; he does not give you a hint of a desire to stop the 
killing; but he goes further than Secretarj^ Shaw — he does declare 
that the breeding bulls on these rookeries in the last three years have 
diminished nearly 50 per cent. But he says in the same breath that 
the cows have increased 9 per cent. This seems to have given Mr. 
Cortelyou an idea that there was something wrong about the charge 
that the pelagic hunter was doing all the harm. 

Fifty per cent of our breeding bulls have been killed off, and yet at 
and in the same time there is an increase of 9 per cent in the cows! 
That fact evidently strikes Mr. Cortelyou as something remarkable, 
but he does not say anything more. He also refers to the fact that 
these Canadian pelagic" seal hunters have appeared as 'SJapanese"" 
hunters. He says the presence of sealing schooners in sight of the 
islands this summer, before the beginning of the pelagic season in 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. $ 

Bering Sea, "indicated a pursuit of the American herd of seals during 
the closed season. It was impossible to determine the nationalit}' of 
the schooners. There is reason to believe, however, that foreigners 
are not the only offenders." 

Mr. Cortelyou thinks there is something wrong but he can not say 
what, and, naturalh% he can not. There is no way of finding out. 
The result in short is this: Our people under existing laws and regu- 
lations, Mr. Chairman, have killed the young male seal so close that 
during the last four years no young male that has passed the killing 
ground as a 2-year-old ever got through the next year as a 3-year-old 
that he was not killed in the third year as a -i-year-old. He has no 
more chance to run that gauntlet under existing conditions than you 
would have of walking down Pennsylvania avenue with men on each 
side of the street shooting at you from the Capitol to the Treasury, and 
escaping. In two years more, unless we let these young male seals grow 
up undisturbed, there will not be a propagator of the species on the 
breeding grounds. It becomes necessary at once to step in here and 
stop this work on the islands for a period of some years; it ma303e 
four; it may be five; it may be seven years; we can not tell how long. 

Mr. Tawney. Did Russia at one time stop the killing of seals on 
the Pribilof Islands ? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; it stopped the land killing. 

Mr. Tawney. I mean land killing. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; the land killing on the Russian side 

Mr. Tawney. In what year ? 

Mr. Elliott. From 1817 to 183-1 they ran out. Then they stopped 
it entirely in 1834; there was no such industry as pelagic sealing 
in sight or even known of then. The}' were killing as our people are, 
and allowing no choice young males to grow up and get on the breed- 
ing grounds. 

Mr. Tawney. How long did they prohibit the killing? 

Mr. Elliott. They held it up about twelve j^ears. 

Mr. Tawney. And in that time to what extent did the herd increase? 

Mr. Elliott. In twelve, vears they were killing from 30,000 to 
40,000. In fifteen years they raised it to 50,000, and when we took 
the islands from Russia — there were 4,500,000 seals there — they were 
then killing between 45,000 and 60,000 young male seals annuall3^ 

Mr. Hill. What is the use of suspending the killing of these males 
if you are going to allow pelagic sealing to continue? 

Mr. Elliott. We want to save the fur-seal species itself. If we do 
not stop this close slaughter of ,young male seals we can not save the 
species. We want to save the life itself; we must save these young 
males from our own hands or lose the life itself, long before the female 
life goes out. 

Mr. Tawney. Did not the last Congress, or the House at least, pass 
a bill intending to give to the President of the United States authority 
to reopen negotiations with Great Britain for the purpose of adopting 
new regulations in regard to pelagic sealing? I know that bill did 
not pass the Senate in the form it passed the House, but is it not a 
fact that the sundry civil bill gave to the President of the United 
States authority to open these negotiations for that purpose? 

Mr. Elliott. The President has authority under the Paris treatj'^ to 
open it every five years. This gave him the power. But the minute 
the Secretaiy of State attempted to use that power the chairman of the 



4 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Anglo-Ainorican Joint Hig-h Commission went to him and said, "No; 
we have got charge of that; we are going to meet soon, and we have 
got it all settled/' 

Mr. Tawney. What I want to get at is, if this bill is passed there is 
authority. In fact, Congress has directed the President of the United 
States to reopen these negotiations for the purpose of adopting new 
regulations. 

Mr. P^LLiOTT. The Senate has passed a simple resolution to that 
effect. 

Mr. Tawney. The sundry civil appropriation bill gave the provision 
to that effect. 

Mr. Elliott. That is it; that is very true; but it does not carry this 
clause. 

Mr. Tawney. But if this was adopted, then it would lead to the 

Mr. Elliott. Oh, yes. 

Mr. Taw^ney. It would lead to the negotiations that the President 
is authorized to open in the sundry civil bill? 

Mr. Elliott. It would put a stop to killing on land, 

Mr. Tawney. And then the State Department would be authorized 
to go ahead and negotiate with foreign governments. 

The Chairman. How about Great Britain? The}^ kill more bv the 
pelagic sealing, and, as I understand it, we are willing to have it 
stopped. It is Great Britain we want to act upon. In regard to one 
of these questions that Mr. Tawney has asked j^ou in regard to Russia 
having stopped it, at that time was there pelagic sealing going on to 
any extent? 

Mr. Elliott. No, sir; there was none. 

The Chairman. So the effect it produced upon the seal life then 
can not be compared with the effect it might produce now with pelagic 
sealing ? 

Mr. Elliott. Not as rapid or disastrous; Init it would amount to 
the same thing. It shows without pelagic sealing, with the same law 
we are applying to-day, we can ourselves destroy that life. That is 
beyond all argument. 

The Chairman. You were going on to speak about the effect of this 
bill in regard to bringing about negotiations with Great Britain. 

Mr. Elliott. The resolution has this simple effect in my opinion. 
It has a good effect for the Secretary of State, because it eliminates 
all' commercialism from his negotiations. Now, we are constantly 
being met bj'' the British side of the case: "You want to save seals for 
your butchers, and my butchers are as good as yours, and if you don't 
get rid of your butchers I am not going to meddle with mine." That 
is the long and short of it. If we stop our butchers from killing these 
seals, which we must do — and the deadh' parallel of the Russian record 
shows it has been done by land killing — we will be able to save the 
species; if we do not do that, we shall destroy the species itself, and 
the sin and shame of it will then be on our own hands and not on the 
hands of the Canadian butchers. 

Mr. Tawney. Under the contract of this lessee, at what age are 
they permitted to kill young seals? 

Mr. Elliott. They are not permitted to kill young seals under 1 
year of age. But I have the records here that show that since 1899 
thousands and tens of thousands of yearlings have been killed, and 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 5 

they don't know whether the}" are under a year old or not — whether 
they are 11 months old or 12 months old or 13 months old. 

Mr. Metcalf.' Where do you get the records? 

Mr. Elliott. From the London sales, where the skins are tag-ged 
and weighed and prepared. 1 have my figures from the agents of the 
lessees themselves, and there is no disputing them. Therefore, I want 
to say if we can stop this killing — which this resolution will stop, and 
stop it beyond the power of anybody to continue — we will be able to 
save the species. I have every confidence in Mr. Cortleyou, but we 
do not know whom we may have as Secretary of Commerce and Labor 
in the future, and if we do not hold this up and make these people, if 
they want to kill, come here and give the reason, they will get in 
there again too soon and undo all the good we are doing. 

Mr. Tawney. Is there any evidence, except the report of the London 
sales, tending to show that the lessees are killing male seals under a 
year old? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I have the evidence of the Treasury agent on 
the islands. 

Mr. Tawney. Do you know whether or not the Senate committee 
that visited the Pribilof Islands last year discovered whether the 
lessees were violating their contracts? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I am authorized by Senator Nelson to tell 3"ou 
all about it, if you want to know. 

Mr. Faulkner. I would like to state, if the committee will permit 
me, that the Senate committee, to w^iich reference has been made, 
stated before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations that they 
had no criticism whatever to make of the lessee; that they had obeyed 
the law implicitl3\ 

Mr. Metcalf. I suggest that the witness be allowed to go ahead 
and make his statement and not be interrupted. 

The Chairman. Yes; that is the best way. 

Mr. Elliott. I am willing to be interrupted. 

The Chairman. The committee is unwilling to have you. 

Mr. Tawney. Please answer those questions, and then go ahead. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. The first one was whether you had 
any evidence about these seals being killed? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I have here the oflicial reports of the Treasury 
agents. 

Mr. Tawney. What do they show ? 

Mr. Elliott. I will read from the report of Special Treasury Agent 
Lembkey, in charge of the seal islands, made in August, 190i, to the 
Secretary of the Treasury: 

The lessees during the season (1901 ) took skins ranging from a maximum of 10 
pounds to a minimum of 5 pounds. Previous to 1900 the lowest limit of weight was 
6 pounds, but a 5-pound limit was established that year, and during the past season 
(1901) as many 5-pound skins as could be found were taken. 

This official knew what he was saying in 1901, because the following 
classification was published in 1872 and 1874, and has been accepted as 
the standard unit of weight and age by all parties concerned, Govern- 
ment officers, lessees, and natives, and it has been the rule ever since. 

A l^-pound skin is the hide of an average yearling. 

A 5-pound skin is the hide of a well-grown yearling. 

These skins are known as "ej^e plasters." 

A 6-pound skin is the hide of an average 2-year-old. 



6 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

A 6i pound skin is the hide of a well-grown 2-year-old, 

These skins are known as ''short" skins. 

All 7 to 8 pound skins are the hides of 3-year-olds. 

All 9 to 11 pound skins are the hides of 4-year-olds. 

These skins are known as ''p)-ime,"" "tine," and "extra fine" skins. 

Here Ave have the official proof in 1901 of the fact that the lessees 
dropped their limit from a 2 year-old skin to a yearling- skin, and since 
then they have taken everything they could find. Who disputes it? 
I do not. I did not make that statement, and that is })rought out by 
these records to the dot. It is borne out by the London echoes. There 
is no disputing the fact that they have done this thing. 

I want to say right here that 1 am not here to find fault with these 
men. I have a good deal of sympathy for them. They see these 
))utchers at sea taking everything they can lay their hands on and 
they say, " We pay $10 a skin for these, and we bad better have them 
rather than those fellows;"'' but, unfortunately, the butcher wants 
everything, whether he is on the water or on the land, and it is hard 
to stop him. We have reached the point where we must stop him, 
because they will get all the males and stop the life before those butch- 
ers in the water get all the females. Now, 1 will come to the contract. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. You forgot that other question of 
Mr. Tawney's. 

Mr. Elliott. Mr. Tawne}", your question was about Senator Nel- 
son's visit? 

Mr. Tawney. Yes; I wanted to know whether you had any evi- 
dence 



Mr. Elliott. The evidence is the evidence he told me I could pre- 
sent here. 

Mr. Tawney. Did he make a statement ? 

Mr. Elliott. He made a statement before the Foreign Relations 
Committee, but it was not taken down; it was not printed. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. We had better have Senator Nelson's 
own statement about that. 

Mr. Elliott. Shall I take up the contract? 

The Chairman. Yes. Your time is nearly up already. 

Mr. EIlliott. Mr. Windora. a lawyer skilled in the law, drew a lease 
which binds these lessees, May 1, 1890, for a period of twenty years 
to abide faithful 1}^ by any restrictions or limitations that he might see 
tit to put upon their right to kill seals, that he might see tit for the 
preservation of the seal tisheries of those islands under the law. 

The law of July 1, 1870, section 3, reserved to the Government the 
right to make any killing there that it may see tit. The law of July 1, 
1870, reserved the right of the Government to kill seals for food for 
the natives. The law of July 1, 1870, section tt, gives the lessees their 
lease — authorizes them in distinct terms, nowhere conflicting with sec- 
tions 3 and 1. 

Now, this question was brought here and argued at great length by 
the attorney of the lessee in the presence of the subcommittee of this 
House when the tirst seal bill was pending, February 20, 1895. Messrs. 
Thomas B. Reed, W. L. Wilson. Henry G. Turner, and Benton McMil- 
lin were the subcommittee, and they listened to the attoi-ney for the 
lessee, Gen. N. L. Jefiries, who argued at length against the right to 
suspend the operations of his company- which the Dingley ])ill pro- 



FUR SEALS Ob' ALASKA. 7 

vided for. ^Vhat was the opinion of these la\\\vers of this committee? 
[Reading from memorandum:] 

The question being raised pending the consideration of the House bill (No. 8633) 
introduced by Governor Nelson Dingley, jr., the attorney for the lessees, Gen. N. L. 
Jeffries, argued at length against the right of the Government to completely suspend 
the work of the lessees, as the terms of the pending bill ordered. 

Thereupon the subcommittee helil: 

1. That the clause in the lease which binds the lessees to "obey and abide by any 
restrictions upon the right to kill seals that the Secretary of the Treasury shall judge 

-necessary, under the law, for the preservation of the seal fisheries of the United 
States" enables the (TOvernnient(the Secretary of the Treasury being the agent only 
of Congress) at any time to completely restrict or suspend the work of the lessees. 
This authority for this restriction is found in section 3 of the act approved July 1, 1870. 

2. That the right to kill seals for natives' food is expressly reserved by section 1 
of the act approved July 1, 1870, for the Government, and is not covered or merged 
into the terms of the lease which are authorized bv section 4 of the act approved 
July 1, 1870. 

This report was unanimous. It was unanimoitsly adopted by the 
full committee. They were g^ood lawyers, gentlemen, and the bill 
was reported by Chairman Wilson. (Report No. 1849, 63d Cong., 3d 
sess.) That is all thrashed over pretty thoroughly. 

Now, gentlemen, 1 want to come right back to the other obligations 
of this contract. 

The lessees claim that the}^ have a benevolent arrangement under 
their lease, and they will be put to great expense if they are suddenly 
suspended. 1 deny it. The Government has borne the entire expense 
of caring for these people since 1890. The Treasury rules and regu- 
lations, which 1 have here, are so framed that the company to-day 
does not expend one dollar under the terms of their contract for the 
support of those natives. It takes it out of them by the fox-skin con- 
tract, and it takes it out of them from 10 to 20 per cent on the store 
goods which it sells to them. The whole cost of their benevolent con- 
tract with these natives is not five or six thousand dollars a year — 
coal, doctors, and schools. 

That is all that comes under the benevolent contract. Their widows 
and orphans' clause costs about |150 a year. They take from four to 
five thousand dollars away from the natives under the fox-skin regula- 
tion which might go to the natives just as well as not. They take 
from 10 to 20 per cent on the store goods easily, which brings it up to 
seven or eight thousand dollars. This amount they get, in short, 
directly back from the natives. So they are even, so far as the benevo- 
lent contract is concerned, and if it was suspended the Government 
has got nothing to do but go on just as it has been doing — paying the 
whole thing. There will be no hitch, no crook in lifting them at once 
from that w^ork of killing, and so saving this life. There is no legal 
difficulty, and there is no moral trouble about it, and if we do not do 
it we have lost this life. 

I have all these items here, and I atn ready to answer an}' ques- 
tion and close. 

Mr. Hill. What is the difference between 3"ou and Doctor Jordan 
in regard to the policy to be followed? 

Mr. Elliott. Professor Jordan has assumed that there is no such 
thing as excessive land killing of male seals. He has assumed that 
in defiance of the official Russian reports and records, which show that 
the land killing did destroy this herd from millions of seals in 1800 
down to less than 26,000 seals on St. Paul's Island in 1824 by doing 



O FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

the .same work that is going on to-day. There iy no ditforence in the 
matter. They are taking ever}- fine young male, and that will go on 
until all the best breeders are gone. 

Mr. Metcalf. What is the length of life of these animals? 

Mr. Elliott. The male reaches his maturity at 5 or ♦) years, and 
the femaU' in 3 years. The male can propagate first when he is 6 
years old. The female receives the male when she is 2 years old. but 
they come out as yearlings exactly alike in weight, size, color, and skin, 
and evevy other outward resemblance, and 3^ou can not tell them apart 
unless you turn them over and examine them sub ano. 

Mr. "Metcalf. What is the length of life if they are left alone? 

Mr. Elliott. A bull seal will serve sixteen or eighteen years if he 
is left alone, I think. It is difficult to speak with authority on the 
subject. 1 advanced that proposition in 1872-1874, and no "man has 
disputed it since; also no man can positively affirm it. The female 
reaches her maturity at 8 years old, and I think she lives ten or eleven 
years. I go on the general analogy that runs through life, taking 
three times the age of puberty. It takes a male six 3^ears to reach 
puberty. Therefore I argue, as I would with a dog, or a cat, or a 
horse, that he would be eighteen years in service and then drop out. 

Mr. Metcalf. Where do the}" die? 

Mr. Elliott. At sea. When thej^ feel the rigor of death coming 
on they go out to sea; it is more comfortable in the water. 

Mr. Hill. Is it Professor Jordan's opinion that no action is neces- 
sary ? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; he thinks everything has reached a point of equi- 
librium. He claimed six years ago that they would not increase or 
diminish very much; that the pelagic hunters were going out of 
business. 

Mr. Tawney. What is the size of the herd now? 

Mr. Elliott. The Treasury agent, in the presence of his chief and 
in my presence, December 17, last year, told me there were 150,000 of 
all classes, which I think is about right. The Treasury agent also told 
me afterwards that he did not think there were any more. He could 
not count on anv more. That was the 1st of August. Since then 
20,000 seals were killed in Bearing Sea. I do not think there will be 
120,000 alive there next summer. 

Mr. Williams. And there were 450,000 when Doctor Jordan said 
that he thought it would remain in equilibrium? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, there were 450,000 left. There is no use in 
Doctor Jordan or any other man arising here and saying he can improve 
on a law of nature for the breeding of wild animals. It is not scien- 
tific, and real scientific men will never indorse such a doctrine. I could 
name naturalists who would come here and scout at it, but there is no 
use in this — that is not necessary — the life is gone. We have the dregs 
here, and yet these butchers come in and want to drain it. We have 
spent fourteen years trying to save it, and now if we let it go out with 
a bad smell it is too bad. 1 do not believe you will let it go in that 
scandalous manner. 

Mr. Metcalf. In this bill (H. R. 13553, 57th Congress) there is this 
recital: " Whereas the Government of the United States is reduced, by 
the failure of these official negotiations aforesaid, to the painful position 
of having been and being obliged to breed and protect annually some 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 9 

50,000 female seals on the seal islands of Alaska," etc. Are there that 
many female seals'^ 

Mr. Elliott. • There are 50,000 there to-day, yes; that is what there 
are there to-da}-; that is rig-ht. Bat they will not last much longer 
when the male life drops away from them. 

Mr. Metcalf. Then follows: "Whereas the killing- of thousands of 
mother seals at sea eyery year," etc. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir. 1 want to tell you right there, Mr. Metcalf, 
it is impossible for us to tell the exact proportion of female seals these 
butchers get in the water. We can only get it in a general way. You 
can depend upon one thing and that is the great bulk taken oft' the 
rookeries are nursing mothers, because we see the young pups stary- 
ing there. Some of our agents haye seen the milk and blood com- 
mingled on the decks of the sealers' yessels. There is no question but 
what the great bulk of their catch is nursing mother females while 
hunting in Bering Sea during August and September, annualh^ 

Mr. Williams. I would like for you to giye the stenographer a 
brief account of your connection personally with this. 

Mr. Elliott. I am glad you asked me to do that. That is frequently 
asked. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. How you were ofticially employed. 

Mr. Elliott. In 1872 I was asked by Joseph Henry and Spencer F. 
Baird, the Director and the Assistant Director of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, to make a biological study of the islands, and I did so. 

In 1874 I was again sent to those islands under a special act of Con- 
gress, with a reyenue-marine cutter put under my service. 

Mr. Williams. VV^ere 3^ou in the Nayy then ? 

Mr. Elliott. No; I was the artist of the Smithsonian Institution 
and the priyate secretary of Joseph Henry when I went up there. In 
1890 I was asked by Mr. Windom to go up again under authority of a 
special act of Congress which was di-afted in this committee and passed 
b}" Congress for the express purpose of sending me up there; I made 
that report to Secretary Windom, which is here and which was sup- 
pressed in 1891 by the one who succeeded Mr. Windom as an accident 
of death. He did so because I insisted that land killing at that time 
depleted the herd as much as sea killing. Then our own incompetent 
agents went oyer to Paris with that untruth in their mouths, and there 
got beaten out of it, as they ought to haye been. I would not allow 
myself to step down one peg from this truth; not for anybody — not 
for Mr. Blaine, or eyen for the President himself; they could not com- 
pel me to do it; so I parted company with them there, January 19, 1891. 

Mr. Tawney. Are you in any way connected with this subject now? 

Mr. Elliott. Not officially. I haye only that interest which any 
man would haye who knew it as I know it. I don't want to see a life 
wiped out as I haye seen it, the most wonderful 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. You were selected by the Smithson- 
ian Institution to make a special biological study of this question, and 
3'ou made it? 

Mr. Elliott. I was selected by the Smithsonian Institution to make 
a special biological study of the question, yes; and I made it. I was 
the first artist that ever liyed among those islands. I made the first 
study and surveys of this work that were ever made by a trained 
obseryer. And this work of mine has stood — not a line added to it or 



10 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

taken from it by these jealous naturalists that have been over niv trail 
since, atul the\' do not attempt to do it. They only differ with me on 
the land question, and they have come to judgment now in these 
tigures and facts that are piled up against them. 

STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES J. FAULKNER. 

(See also p. 19. ) 

Mr. P'aulkner. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I 
appreciate very highly the courtesy which you have extended to me 
as the representative of the North American Commercial Company, 
the lessees of the Government, to express the views which it has in 
reference to the approval by you of this joint resolution. I shall not 
follow Mr. Elliott in his attacks on the officials of the Government. 1 
do not feel it is necessary for me to justify the action of the Secretary 
of the Treasury in his regulations and control of this subject. He is 
sufficiently known to the members of this committee to assure them 
that if he had deemed it proper or necessary to make any special 
recommendations as to this matter, by reason of the official facts in 
the possession of the Department, that he would not have hesitated to 
do so in his report. 

There is no reason that I can conceive of why he should not. Per- 
mit me to briefly recall some facts to 3^our memory that you gentle- 
men are more familiar with than I can possibly be. I will ask vou, 
therefore, to pardon me if my statement simply recalls to your recol- 
lection facts which it is important to consider in passing on this 
subject. 

There has been an unrest in Congress for a number of years in ref- 
erence to pelagic sealing. The Government has realized, from the 
beginning of the negotiations with Great Britain in 1891, that this 
great industry, bringing us, as it has, revenue every year to the Treas- 
ur}^, is a question that demands its most serious consideration. I think 
there has been some unjust criticism as to the interest and actions of 
this Government and of the Government of Great Britain, when the 
facts are properly known and understood, as to the efl'orts made by 
the two Governments to reach a satisfactory conclusion in the preser- 
vation of the seal herd. For example, gentlemen, as 3'ou well know, 
in 1891 the two Governments entered into an agreement which ulti- 
mately brought into existence the Paris tribunal of arbitration. The 
award was made in 1S93, and although the Government of the L^nited 
States by that decision lost all the questions of law presented to that 
tribunal of arbitration involving the right of the Government to con- 
trol the seal herd in its migrations or its right to control the waters of 
Bering Sea (the arbitrators deciding unanimouslv against us), but 
there was a provision in the treat}^ which seemed to anticipate this 
decision, and under which the arbitrators were authorized to provide 
such regulations as they deemed proper with the view to preserving 
the seal herd. This was as much in the interest of England as of the 
United States. This Government receives a revenue by reason of the 
annual killing of the male seals, and England receives the entire reve- 
nue which results in the preparing the raw skins as a manufactured 
article, which protit perhaps is greater than that received bv the 
United States, even under its tirst lease, and greater than it is receiv- 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 11 

ing even under the very high compensation which is now paid by the 
Nortli American Commercial Company. Therefore England is as 
deeply interested in this matter as the United States. 

The award determined the regulations; the two Governments imme- 
diately passed statutes carrying out every recommendation of the arbi- 
trators. There was a clause in the award which provided that there 
should be a revision of the regulations provided in the award every 
five 3^ears. What do we next find the two Governments doing? In 
1896, anticipating the necessit}^ for revision at the end of the five years 
in 1898, the two Governments appointed commissioners to investigate 
this entire subject, that the facts ascertained might be laid before their 
respective Governments. On that commission Great Britain appointed 
a gentleman to represent Canada and one to represent Great Britain. 
The United States appointed two to represent the Government, They 
studied this question upon the islands and in the Bering Sea for two 
seasons, and in 1898 made their report to their respective Governments. 
Every view taken by Mr. Elliott is controverted by their unanimous 
report, especially this idea of the eftect of the killings on land. It is 
the first time in the history of the United States in these long negotia- 
tions with Great Britain that Canada's and Great Britain's commis- 
sioners have ever admitted the correctness of the view of the United 
States that pelagic sealing alone was the cause of the destruction of 
the herd, and that the killing of male seals on the land was a benefit 
rather than an injur}^ to the herd where there was proper regulation 
and supervision b}' Government agents. 

That was a unanimous report, and for the first time Canada and 
Great Baitain admitted the entire contention of the United States. 

Mr. Elliott. I know the gentleman does not mean to misrepresent. 
The Canadians have not agreed that pelagic sealing 

The Chairman. I think it would be more orderh^ if j^ou would allow 
Senator Faulkner to conclude. 

Mr. Dalzell. It is in print, I suppose? 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Do you mean to say that the land 
killing does not decrease the herd ? 

Mr. Faulkner. Not to its permanent injur}^ but is essential in the 
protection of its growth. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. And does not tend to extinguish the 
species ? 

Mr. Faulkner. Not at all, sir. I will suspend my discussion to say 
to Mr. Williams that he can readily see that if there is an equal divi- 
sion in the sexes in the birth of the pups, that if many of the male 
seals are not killed annually they will accumulate so rapidly (there is 
no use for them whatever) that in their bitter fighting in their eft'orts 
trying to take the rookeries, they not only kill many of the female 
seals but many of the younger pups, both male and female. All the 
scientists agree as to this; there is no dispute about it. I have author- 
ity upon authority to sustain the proposition. Every scientist that 
has discussed this subject, except Mr. Elliott, agrees on this question. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Are not cow seals killed on land? 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir; not at all; that is prohibited. There are 
no cow seals killed. 

Mr. Clark. Do these bulls practice polygamy or monogamy ? 

Mr. Faulkner. Polyamy, far beyond anything we know of in this 
country. 



12 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Next comes the Joint High Commission appointed under the treat}' 
with Great Britain. This question was one of the numerous ones sub- 
mitted. Mr. Chairman, you were a member of that Commission. I 
do not think that I am going- be3'ond the bounds of propriety in say- 
ing 



Mr. Tawnky. You were also a mem})er of that Commission ? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes, sir; I was a member of the Commission. [To the 
committee.] — That this question was adjusted hy that Commission with 
the exception of a few details, when the Conmiission, by reason of their 
disagreement upon the Alaskan boundar}', was compelled to cease its 
work, the representatives of Canada and Great Britain refusing to 
pass upon any matter unless all the questions submitted were agreed. 
If it had not been for the position taken by their representatives, 
pelagic sealing would have been settled and disposed of in 1898, satis- 
factorih", I am satisfied, to both countries. 

Again, gentlemen, the next eii'orts to adjust this matter was during 
1902-3. I am credibh' informed — but I give you this upon informa- 
tion — that prior to the death of the British ambassador this subject 
had been under very active negotiations between him and the Depart- 
ment of State, and it had virtually been concluded when Embassador 
Herbert died. 

Mr. Grosvenor. Who was the representative of this Government? 

Mr. Faulkner. In that recent negotiation? 

Mr. Grosvenor. Yes — Mr. Hay, himself? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; I understand it was Mr. Hay, himself. 

The next movement was the action of the Senate Foreign Relations 
Committee, which passed a resolution in the early part of the present 
session requesting the State Department to proceed at once with these 
negotiations. I understand that even prior to the passage of that res- 
olution the State Department had taken this question up, and I am 
informed that it is the purpose of the Executive Department to pro- 
ceed with the negotiations with the new British ambassador. This is 
the history of the negotiations relating to this subject bv the two 
Governments. I admit that unforeseen misfortune has followed these 
efforts. The failure to agree on the boundary line between Canada 
and Alaska broke up the negotiations in 1898. The hope of the set- 
tlement of this question in 1903 was defeated b}- the death of Ambas- 
sador Herbert, leaving the question again open. That is its condition. 
When you examine the facts I do not think that the Governments in 
interest are subject to criticism for their failure to adjust this contro- 
versy. The Executive branch has fullv appreciated the sentiment in 
the Congress. It realized that our lessees were only getting 17,000 
and 20,000 and 19,000 seals on the islands annually; that the pelagic 
sealers during those years were getting as high as 63,000 seals from 
this herd. 

Mr. Williams. Do you know whether any negotiations are going 
on now between our State Department and Great Britain, or whether 
the}' have stopped those? 

Mr. Faulkner. I am informed they are in progress. 

Mr. Williams. Do you know whether the Joint High Commission 
claims that that falls within their scope of duty? 

Mr. Faulkner. The Joint High Commission have nothing to do 
with it unless again convened. Like the treaty as to the Alaskan 
boundary, which was submitted to the Joint High Commission, it does 



FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 13 

not prevent the State Department from renewing- negotiations inde- 
pendent of that submission. 

Mr. Williams. That is your understanding of the view point taken 
by the State Departments 

Mr. Faulkner. That is my understanding of the view point of the 
State Department. 

Mr. Watson. Are you at liberty to state what the Joint High Com- 
mission proposes to do with the seal question S 

Mr. Faulkner. I would hardh^ feel at libertj^'to do so. It is a con- 
fidential nmtter until the State Department should give it out. 

Mr. Tawney. Under the contract how many seals is the company 
allowed to kill ' 

Mr. Faulkner. That is regulated b}^ the Secretary of Commerce 
and Labor, annually. 

Mr. Tawney. How many in fact have been killed? 

Mr. Faulkner. During the modus vivendi 7,500. The convention 
between Great Britain and the United States limiting the killing to 
that number — pending this award a suificient number for food for the 
natives. Subsequently to the award it ran from 16,031, in 1891, to 
about 30,000, in 1896, which was the highest ever taken. Last year, 
it is my recollection there were about 19,000 taken. For twelve years, 
from 1890 to 1901, the average annual taking was 17,506. 

Mr. Metcalf. On the islands? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Hill. And what was the number taken b}" pelagic sealing last 
year ? 

Mr. Faulkner. I think the estimate is about 27,000 last year. It 
is falling ofi'. 

Mr. Hill. Because of the falling off of the herd? 

Mr. Faulkner. I think that is the reason. They are gradually 
giving it up, many of the boats are on the retired li«t. 

Mr. Hill. Then, perhaps, in five years more, the fisheries will not 
be worth pursuing on that basis, will they? 

Mr. Faulkner. I do not think it is possible to exterminate the herd 
under the regulations of the Department. 

Mr. Hill. But you can exterminate it commercially, can you not? 

Mr. Faulkner. I think commercially it can be. If destroyed com- 
mercially it would be unfortunate. When you force the people to 
discontinue the use of sealskins as a commercial article you lose the 
market for years, and it will be dilficult to again Iniild up the trade. 
That was demonstrated by the experience of the Alaska Commercial 
Company, of which, I think, Mr. Elliott was an employee. Were you 
not an employee of that company, Mr. Elliott? 

Mr. Elijott. No, sir; I never was an emploj'ee of the Alaska Com- 
mercial Company. 

Mr. Faulkner, I beg your pardon. 

Mr. Elliott. I know it is a common understanding. You do not 
want to misrepresent me; 1 am sure of that. 

Mr. Faulkner. This company had to spend thousands of dollars to 
build up the seal-fur trade. They did not dispose of their annual 
catch for several vears because of a want of demand. If the killino- 
was entirely suspended it would result in something else being substi- 
tuted for the Alaskan furs. That is the belief of those familiar with 
the trade. 

F s— 04 2 



14 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Hill. Tliat is rather coiitrury to the oxpcrionco of mankind — 
tlio scarcer you make a product ordinaril}- the more vahiabh^ it ))ecomes. 

Mr. Faulkner. No; it is a (juestion of fashion that controls all 
((uestions of this character. If it is the fashion then the article is in 
demand. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. The more expensive a seal skin 
becomes the more it would be the fashion to wear it. That is my 
experience. 

Mr. Faulkner. 1 could not say. Fashion in this us in all other 
similar articles determines the demand. 

Mr. SwANSOX, I understand you insist that the killing of the male 
seals, which Avould be prohibited by this bill, instead of being a benefit 
to the herd would be a detriments 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes. 

Mr. SwANSON. As 1 understand it this 1)111 prohibits your company 
from killing male seals on the islands? 

Mr. Faulkner. We never have killed anything but males. 

Mr. SwANSON. I understand; but your position is that the killing 
of male seals, under the provisions of the Secretaiy of the Treasury, 
is a benefit and not a detriment? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes. 

Mr. Tawney. What have you to say to this statement (S. Rept. 
282, p. 23, 5Sth Cong., 2d sess.) of the committee that visited the 
Pribilof Islands: 

We are thus brought face to face \vith the fact that the killino: of j'oung seals on 
the islands since 1896 has been so close that no young male life has been permitted 
to pass over the slaughter fields on to the breeding grounds. This occasions the 
rapid falling off in numbers — 42 per cent in the last two years — of the breeding males 
from old age, their places not being filled by the accession of fresh male life. In 
order to prevent a total collapse of the birth rate in the next two or three years, it 
is imperative that all killing of all seal life on the islands be stopped next season. 
This will enable the choicest of the young males to grow up and reach the breeding 
grounds in the next four years and there take their places, which must be taken by 
them or the seal life will be extinguished. 

The committee therefore recommend that a suspension of all killing by the lessees of 
the seal islands be made at once and indefinitely, and that the Government of the 
United States shall attempt to reopen and conclude negotiations with the Govern- 
ment of Great Britain looking to a revision of existing rules and regulations which 
govern the taking of seals in the open waters of the North Pacific Ocean and Bering 
Sea, and to enter up'in negotiations with the Governments of Russia and Japan to 
the end that all pelagic sealing mux be stopped, and if, after a reasonable length of 
time, the (Tovernment fails to secure a proper revision and enforcement of such rules 
and to conclude such negotiations, then the Secretary of Commerce may, with the 
apjiroval of the President, re<luce the surxjlus female life of the herd on the Pribilof 
Islands to 10,000. 

With the herd so reduced in numbers pelagic sealing will not be profital)le as an 
industry, and the herd will be permitted to increase an 1 multiply slowly at first, 
afterwards more rapidly, until again proi:)er regulations may be adopted for killing. 

Mr. Faulkner. That was a subcommittee of the Committee on 
Territories that visited Alaska. They were four hours on that island, 
Mr. Elliott has had the ear of that committee. You can see from the 
languag(> used that either he has copied their language or else they 
have copied his language, for the language 3'ou have read is identical 
with the language he has used before the committee. 

Mr, Tawney, You have served in the Senate, Which is the rule 
in such cases— that the Senate committee adopts the language of some 
one who makes a statement, or that the language of the committee is 
adopted by the other man? 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 15 

Mr. Faulkner. The rule is to look on both sides of any question 
broadly and not allow one who has continually advocated a particular 
view, rejected 'by the scientists of the country, to secure the ear of a 
committee or of those who have to pass upon the measure. That has 
been the rule. 

Mr. Tawney. What have you to state as to the fact? 

Mr. Faulkner. I can not say as to the fact. 

Mr. Williams. The question I wanted to ask you was this 

Mr. Faulkner. This question will be decided to-day, I suppose, in 
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. 

The Chairman. I wish the committee would allow the Senator to 
complete his statement. 

Mr. Sav ANSON. Just this one question. I understand this bill pro- 
hibits the killing of males? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes. 

Mr. SwANSON. What is the proportion of males and females in the 
present herd? Have they got enough males for breeding purposes? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; I will come to that in a moment. 

The Chairman. Now, let us let the Senator proceed and complete 
his statement. 

Mr. Faulkner. There are rookeries adjacent to the island where 
breeding seals are found, as is known to Mr. Elliott, he having mar- 
ried on the islands. On these breeding rookeries the seal is never dis- 
turbed, nor are they ever driven. They are thoroughly protected, 
and there are on them, of all ages and sexes, to-day 15,000 seals. 
Four thousand five hundred males are ample to impregnate all the 
female seals on both of the islands. This is the opinion of the experts. 

Gentlemen, I have given a brief general review of the negotiations 
between the two countries. There are three propositions presented by 
this joint resolution. The first is, What consideration should be shown 
to the lessee, who, as a contractor with the Government, has rights 
and property interest which the abrogating of its contract, made in 
good faith with the United States, would subject to irreparable injury ? 

In 1890 the North American Commercial Company, after advertise- 
ment b}' the Government, entered into a contract with it for the 
exclusive right to kill seals for the period of twenty years. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. What year was the beginning of the 
contract? 

Mr. Faulkner. May, 1890, or April; I do not remember, but it was 
in the spring of 1890. 

That contract gave the Government the right to protect fully the 
seal herd. If this is true, why this agitation, I ask? Why are you 
compelled to attend this meeting session after session to hear this 
question discussed, when b}^ the terms of this contract it is in the 
power of the Department, after a full investigation, to limit and con- 
trol the killing of male seals in the preservation of the herd, as in its 
judgment it may determine to be to the interest of the United States, 
having at the same time proper regard to the interest of the lessee ? 

Further than that, that power is now vested in your agent, who will 
exercise it and has exercised it annually. He fixes before the season 
opens the number of male seals that can be taken, after first consider- 
ing all the facts officially within his knowledge, and especialh^ the fact 
of the depletion of the herd. The reports of the Treasury agents give 
him all the information necessarj^ for his decision. They are present 
on the islands, and not a seal can be killed by the agents of this com- 



16 FUR SEA.LS OF ALASKA. 

pany but in the presence of these officials. This contract was entered 
into by express authority of an act of Cong-ress. Under that act it 
is providecl that the Secretary of the Treasury in making a new lease 
should have due regard to the interest of the foi-nier lessee. What 
was the action of the Secretary under that ])r()^•ision ^ He held that 
under it the North American Commercial Company nuist purchase the 
entire plant of the former lessee, the Alaska Commercial Company. 
This company was compelled to buy from the former lessee every 
house on that island erected for the protection and the, comfort of its 
inhabitants that had been built bv the Ala.ska C'ommercial Company. 
It had to buy its stores, its plant, its boats, its tackle, and, in fact, 
everything- owned by it on the islands. It paid over a full value for 
all this property. 

Mr. Elliott. Sixty-three thousand dollars was all it paid. 

Mr. Faulkner. In the opinion of those who know, the amount paid 
was above its value. My understanding is it reached far in excess of 
$63,000, although I have not the information upon which I can make 
a positive statement. What do we next find ? 

The company entered into this contract with the understanding that 
after the first vear they Avould be permitted to take 100,000 seals. It 
was limited to'OO.oOO the first year, but in fact only took about 28,000. 
The modus vivendi followed for two years, during which period the 
company was limited to 7,500 each; since then they have never gone 
over 30,000, but generally far below that number. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. In the meantime the. price of seal- 
skins has gone up ? 

Mr. Faulkner. I will explain to 3^ou the profits of the companv. 
I am coming to that question. I want to show the relative hardship 
encountered b}^ this company during this lease. The Alaska Com- 
mercial Company w^as taking 100,000 seals for twenty years. What 
has the North American Commercial Company taken during its lease ? 
If you will refer to page 20 of the report of the subcommittee of the 
Committee on Territories you will find the figures. During the twelve 
j'^ears given of this company's lease the average killing of seals has 
been 17,506 annually. An examination will show that under the origi- 
nal lease the Alaska Commercial Company paid 63 cents a skin as a 
bonus, whereas this company pays $7.62i per skin. You will find the 
aggregate payment under the Alaska Commercial Company's lease was 
$3.17, and that under the lease of the North American Commercial 
Compan}" the Government receives for every sealskin $10.22, more 
than three times the amount paid by its predecessor, and vet the catch 
has been reduced to an average of 17,506 skins instead of 100,000 
skins, the cost of the plant and the cost of running the business being 
about the same in both cases. 

On the same page of this report, Mr. W^illiams, you will find the 
price of the skins given in London. The cost of these skins for twelve 
years, as given by that committee, will show an average price of 
$22. 31. Deduct from that the $10.22 they have to pay the Govern- 
ment and 3^ou have $12 as the gross profit. From that you must take 
the cost of chartering and sending to the island a ship every fall and 
winter. You also have to deduct 50 cents for every skin taken, which, 
under the contract, is paid to the natives. On a catch of 17,506 this 
would amount to $8,753. In addition to thi.s you must deduct for the 
support of schools, suppl3angthe teachers, the furnishing of medicine, 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. • 17 

and the employment of agents that the company has to have to transact 
its business. Further, you inust reduce this gross profit by deducting 
the cost of the'support of tlie indigent and the orphans, which burden, 
under the contract, falls upon the company. 

In addition to these lia))ilities assumed under the contract or incident 
to the business, the company found it necessary to establish at Dutch 
Harbor a basis of supplies for coal, water, and supplies. You will 
remember there are no harbors or docks at the islands. At a cost of 
$200,000 this plant was established. Its location and supplies haye 
been of great conyenience to the United States. It has furnished coal, 
water, and supplies to Goyernnient ships and to the merchant marine 
of the United States since the compan}^ has been the lessee under this 
contract. With these facts in your possession I desire to direct your 
attention to the provisions of this joint resolution. The measure abro- 
gates this contract. No fault is alleged for this action by reason of 
an}^ act done or left undone by the company. I ask. Is it fair and 
just to annul this contract iby the exercise of the power of the sover- 
eign? Is it just and right that this company should be left without 
any remedy for the loss of the plant it has on the island, for the stores 
it has taken there in the belief of the permanency of its contract? 
Would such action between man and man be just and right? If \"0u 
determine to abrogate this contract, has not the company the right to 
say to its representative, "In your action be fair, be just, be equita- 
ble?" If a national necessity or public policy requires the abrogation 
of this contract and compels you to disregard the rights of a citizen 
under a contract which you have freely and voluntarily entered into, 
should 3'ou not provide in the same measure a remed}^ the provisions 
of which will protect and guard the interests and preserve the rights 
of this company? 

This suggestion rests upon a fundamental principle that Congress 
will not ignore. Let us take up this joint resolution. I assert you 
will make a great mistake 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Do you deny that the company has 
been killing an}' seals under 1 year old? 

Mr. Faulkner. I do deny it most emphatically. The evidence to 
disprove it was furnished by Mr. Elliott when he gave you the weight 
of the skins taken, showing that they were of seals over 1 year of age. 
The paper he read showed that they were yearlings. The .5-pound 
sealskins are yearlings. You can appreciate that fact when the com- 
pany is paying $10. 22 per skin to the Government out of a gross reve- 
nue of $22.31 per skin, that after you deduct the incidental expenses, 
the cost of curing the skins, the transportation to London, all of which 
can not aggregate less than $6 per skin, it could not afford to take infe- 
rior or small pup skins. You must remember when you say a yearling 
you mean eveiy seal that is 1 year and less than 2 years old. When it 
becomes 2 years old it is called a 2-year old. The company takes only 
the larger seals over 1 year and under 5. It is in the power of the 
Secretary of Commerce and Labor, under the contract, to tix by his 
regulations, if it is deemed wnse, that the age limit shall be 2 years or 
3 years, if necessary to the preservation of the herd, and this com- 
pany would ])e estopped to complain, as it has agreed to abide by the 
regulations that the Department may promulgate. 

Gentlemen, I desire to suggest for your consideration the unwisdom 



18 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

of such legislation if wc intend to enter into further negotiations with 
England, flapan, and Russia. 

The Chairman. The committee will have to adjourn in about seven 
minutes. 

Mr, Faulkner. This is an important (juestion. Gentlemen, as 
representatives of this great Government, will you, by the passage of 
this measure, repudiate the position the Government has taken as to 
the cause of the decrease of the seal herd in every international dispute? 

Mr. Grosvenou. Your remarks up to this time will be printed. 
Now, could you not dictate to a stenographer further and let it appear 
in the printed hearing:! Would that not l)e as avcU as for us to have 
another meeting at some other time^ 

Mr. Faulknek. Yes; I will do anything that the committee desire. 
I am subject to their orders and their convenience and wishes in every 
respect. 

The Chairman. We want to leave that with you. 

Mr. Faulkner. I have no desire one way or the other. I want to 
suit myself entirely to the convenience of the conmiittee. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Speaking for myself individually, I 
would like you to make a full statement. I would like the Senator to 
make a statement to the stenographer. 1 would like to give permis- 
sion to both sides to extend in print. 

Mr. Faulkner. Every scientist, with the exception of Mr. Elliott, 
opposes his entire views in reference to the killing on the land. I 
want to explain the Russian situation in 183-1: that has been referrd to. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. It seems to me that when you do not 
leave the question of natural selection and propagation to the strong- 
est males and to nature to determine by this tighting-out business that 
you will leave it to males that may be inferior and will not produce as 
health}' progeny. 

Mr. Faulkner. 1 will refer the committee to the pages of the 
authorities where every view advanced by Mr. P^Uiott has been 
overthrown. 

Mr. Hill. The herd is falling off? 

Mr. Faulkner. Of course, and it will fall off so long as pelagic 
sealing continues. Plow could it be otherwise when they are fre- 
quently killing three seals whenever they kill a female ? 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Prior to pelagic sealing it was said 
that a decrease had taken place in the Russian islands by land killing 
alone. I would like that point to be brought out. 

The Chairman. Will it suit your convenience to come here to-morrow 
morning? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; I am subject to your wishes. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Before w^e adjourn I would like to 
have permission granted to let the speakers extend their remarks. 

The Chairman. That can be done to-morrow morning. 

Thereupon, at 12 o'clock, the connnittee adjourned until to-morrow, 
Thursday, March 10, 1901:, at 10 o'clock, a. m. 



PUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 19 



Thuksday, March 10. 190J^. 

The committee met (pursuant to adjournment ^^esterda}') at 10.30 
o'clock a. m., Hon. Sereno H Payne in the cluiir. 

Meml)ers present: The chairman, Messrs. Dalzell, McCall, Hill, 
Boutell, Watson, Williams, Cooper, and Clark, 

STATEMENT OF HON. CHARLES J. FAULKNER— Continued. 

(Seep. 10.) 

Mr. Faulkner. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I noticed in the 
report of the proceedings as published in the Star ^^esterdav evening 
a statement, alleged to have been made by mj'self, which, if it con- 
veyed that impression to the memliers of the committee that it does in 
the paper, 1 desire to correct it this morning, for I certainh^ had no 
intention of making such a statement. 

That statement was that during the four hours the Senators were on 
the islands Mr. Elliott had the ear of those Senators. I have no 
knowledge whatever of whether Mr, Elliott was on that island or not, 
and my statement was intended to be — and if it did not convey- that 
impression I desire to convey it now — that he had had the ear of 
those Senators, but the time when it is impossible for me to state. 

There is another statement here, Mr. Chairman, that I feel it m}' 
duty to comment upon. If it was made to this committee in the form 
it is given in this extract, 1 certainl}' did not understand Mr. Elliott's 
remarks. 

I understood him to say that his report, made in 1S90, was suppressed, 
but I did not understand him to say that an officer of this Government 
so high as the Secretary of the Treasury, or any other official occupying 
a high position in the Government, had sought and endeavored to force 
him to make a statementof facts which, in his judgment, he did not feel 
to be true. If I had understood that to have been his statement — and 
it so appears in the report of the proceedings as published in the Star — 
I certainly would have made this comment upon that subject: The 
report of Mr. Elliott of 1890 was made to the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. The I'eason that it was not received and acted upon as an official 
report, or an official document, was because of the opinion of the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury that it was tilled with inaccuracies, the reasons 
for his action being of record in the Treasury Department, which facts 
were in ni}' possession yesterday at the hearing. It is perhaps not 
proper for me to sa,y what those reasons were, but I say to this com- 
mittee that those reasons ai-e upon the records of the Treasury, and 
that any member of this committee or the committee has a right to ask 
for those reasons, and when they shall be received the connnittee will 
be thoroughh' satisfied of the correctness of the position taken by the 
Secretary of the Treasury in suppressing the report. 

Mr. Watson. What report is that? 

Mr. Faulkner. The report of Mr. Elliott of 1890. 

I desire further to sa}^ that the controversy over this report of 1890 
did not stop in the Department; that when the United States repre- 
sentatives met ])efore the tribunal of arbitration in Paris they were 
confronted by a demand of the British counsel to present that report 
to the tribunal — either a certified copy or the original, and the tribunal 
of arbitration concurred with the representatives of Great Britain. 



20 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

The motion wus based on a news})rtpcr statement of a letter addressed 
by Mr. Elliott to the Secretary of the Treasury, in which he conveyed 
that report to him, and in which he oave a brief outline of the sub- 
stance of the report, and was pul)lished in a paper of Cleveland. Ohio. 

The position taken by the counsel of (ireat Britain was resisted by 
the attorneys of the United States, but the tril)uiial of arbitration 
decided that it was a proper paper under the second clause of the treaty 
to be demanded by Great Britain from the United States, and it was 
subsequently placed before the tribunal. 

I think, in justice to this Government, that these facts should be 
stated, all of which can be verified by a reference to the proceed! ngs of 
the tribunal of arl)itration. 

Mr. Chairman, it strikes me as rather surprising", when we come to 
look at the character of this bill or joint resolution, that it is proposed 
by its author under the idea that it is necessary to preserve the seal 
herd, and all killing b}' the company must cease, and yet, with that as 
the ostensible purpose of this resolution (and I have no doubt it is the 
real reason of the gentleman who introduced it), we tind that this Gov- 
ernment is authorized to continue the killing on those islands. Although 
the joint resolution says we will stop the killing and abrogate, rescind, 
and annul the contract made between the Government, at its invita- 
tion, and the North American Commercial Company, yet in the judg-- 
ment of Congress we should proceed to have 5.50(7 seals killed annu- 
ally; that those skins should ])e taken by the Government, sold b}' the 
Government, and the mone}^ covered into the Treasury. Now, if it 
preserve the seal herd by reducing the number 5,500 annually, what 
is the reason or necessity for abrogation or rescinding the contract by 
this act? 

If Congress has the power to annul or rescind the contract, then it 
has the power to state to the Secretary having charge of this subject 
that under the provisions of the terms of that contract without annul- 
ling its provisions, but in accordance with its expressed terms you are 
directed to limit the number of seals killed on the islands annually, or 
for the number of years you ma}' desire, to 5,500 skins. 

That direction would accomplish the object and purpose of this reso- 
lution without a breach of faith on the part of the Government in an 
attempt to annul the contract. It would act then in accordance with 
a construction the Department had placed on the contract and the 
mouth of the lessee would be closed. 

Now, it can not be said that the taking of seals is different under the 
authority of the lessees froiu the taking under the Government by its 
agents, for there is not a single seal killed ui'd(>r the regulations of the 
Department as they exist to-day, not one, that is not killed in the pres- 
ence of an agent of the Government put there for the purpose of see- 
ing that every regulation is carried out. I repeat, if that is not a cor- 
rect position, I can not understand the object of this legislation. 

If you are going to take the position that by reason of a national 
question which is involved, that because of a national policy that must 
be carried out in reference to this industry, you deem it wiser to abro- 
gate the contract which you have invited a citizen to make. then. I sa}^ 
the exercise of the same principles of soveriMgntv which you appeal 
to as authorizing you to annul this contract for the benelit of the gen- 
eral public, should be appplied that controls in the exercise of the sov- 
ereign right of eminent domain, and that all the property upon these 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 21 

islands that has been put there under the faith of this contract should 
be condemned, its value paid for b}^ the United States, the public bear- 
ing in the interest of national necessity and public policy which you 
deem wise to inaugurate, the burden, and not place that burden alone 
upon the shoulders of a single corporation. 

It strikes me that is a sound doctrine. Every lawyer at this table 
must recognize it as such. If you are willing to step be3'ond the bounds 
of this contract (which you assume to control absolutely by a direction 
to your Secretary or by the direct act of Congress), then you should 
condemn this property if the public necessity of the country requires 
it, and let all l)ear the burden, and not impose it upon a single 
corporation. 

Mr. Chairman, there is one question here that I regard as of vital 
importance, and to me it is the most serious question involved in this 
controversy. What is it? It is a declaration (if this joint resolution 
should pas.s) by Congress that in order to preserve the seal herd the 
killing must be stopped upon the islands. What does that declaration 
mean, when you take the histor}' of this subject during the last twenty 
years into consideration? It means simply this, Mr. Chairman, that 
such a solemn declaration by Congress is a distinct denial of the cor- 
rectness of the position taken by the Government of the United 
States in the international controversies relative to this subject with 
Great Britain during the last twenty years. We have stood upon the 
proposition sustained by every report (except Great Britain's experts 
at that time, and Professor Elliott), upon the iirm foundation that the 
killing of seals under proper regulations by the Government upon land 
did not deplete the herd or injure the industry. 

Mr. Hill. Senator, was not that accompanied by the concurrent 
action of other nations in regard to killing at sea at the same time? 

Mr. Faulkner. The position was tirm and unquestionable, so far as 
we were concerned, in all our negotiations, that the killing on land 
under proper regulations did not in any way afl'ect the increase of the 
herd. 

The Chaikman. Right there, Senator Faulkner. I have always 
understood in the argument of Mr. Elliott before this committee that 
the great cause of the destruction of the seal herd was this pelagic 
sealing. 

Mr. Faulkner. He takes the other view. 

The CHAiR]\rAN. No; I have heard him argue time after time of the 
inhumanity of killing the mothers while they are on the way to the 
feeding ground, and he has shown pictures of the young seals dying 
of starvation b}" reason of the killing of the mothers. He has made 
that argument before this committee time and time again. 

Mr. Faui-kner. That was his view, there is no question about it, 
up to 1890. 

The Chairman. I have heard him express that view time and time 
again since 1890, and you will find 

Mr. Faulkner. He puts it in the report of 1890 on both grounds. 
As he stated yesterday, it is useless to stop pelagic sealing, he says, 
unless you stop the killing on the land. 

Mr. Elliott. That is right. 

Mr. Faulkner. Our position has been the reverse. It has been 
taken after the most mature consideration and examination of this 
subject by the most competent experts and scientists appointed bj^ the 



22 BTTR SEALS Ob^ ALASKA. 

United States Government. Their conclusion has been opposed to 
suspending;- the killino- on hind and in favor of stopping- pela(>'ic seal- 
ing". They have maintained that the killing on land was a necessity in 
order to preserve the herd in good condition, and that the destruction 
was tlie result of pelagic sealing, and pelagic sealing alone. That is 
the distinction, that is the difference, ))etween the position of the Gov- 
ernment in all of its international controversies with Gi'eat Britain and 
in all of its negotiations with that country on this su))ject, and the 
position taken by Mr. Elliott since 1890. 

The tribunal of arbitration sustained the contention of the United 
States. I repeat, if vou pass this act you not only repudiate the 
foundation upon which our negotiations have always rested with Great 
Britain, but you also deny the correctness of the decision of the tri- 
bunal of arbitration, which rests upon the evidence introduced by our 
own Government. 

Mr. Elliott, Mr. Chairman, I do not think the gentleman wants to 
misrepresent me. 

Mr. Faulkner. Not at all. 

The Chairman. I think you had better wait, Mr. Elliott. 

Mr. Faulkner. 1 am perfectl}^ willing 

The Chairman. I am not. There is no ol^jection to any member of 
the committee asking questions, but 1 think an}' one outside had better 
wait until Senator Faulkner closes his statement. 

Mr. Watson. Do you mean in the seal business the law of natural 
selection is set aside and that nature has made a mistake in apportion- 
ing the number of males and females, so that man must intervene to 
perpetuate the species? 

Mr. Faulkner. I mean that with the exception of Mr. Elliott there 
is not a scientist that I have been able to hear of or who I have been 
a])le to talk to who does not maintain that in order to preserve the herd 
in the best possible condition it is essential that the surplus male life 
shall annually be killed, and I will refer to the authorities I rely upon 
in a few moments. Anyone who will study the work of Professor Jor- 
dan (he can in one night almost read the condensed first volume of that 
report) and see the authorities he relies upon will be convinced on this 
question. I am not surprised that the professor (Professor Elliott) 
laughs at that. He says his (Elliott's) report to the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution has stood without question. Gentlemen, if you will just take 
the report of Jordan and read live or six pages on EUiotfs method of 
estimating the number of seals on the islands, you will be convinced 
that in his estimate he exceeded the number of seals there by at least 
1,400,000. 

Take up the report of Captain Mosher, of the United States Nav\', 
who examines carefully Elliott's method of estimating numbers, that 
b}' surveying the rookeries ascertain the number of square feet in each 
and then estimate the number of square feet that would be occupied 
bj" each seal, 3'ou can determine this number. 

Mr. Elliott gives in his report the estimate that 3 square feet is suf- 
ficient. The lowest estimate b}' any other expert, and that is reached 
b}^ compromise, is 22 or 23 feet. Captain Mosher says: 

I can not even fit his coast line, let alone his rookery lines, with his maps. 

They are absolutely a misht. They are of no value, they are not 
measurements, they are simply sketches. That is his value of Elliott's 
method of calculation in ascertainiiiP" the number of seals. His entire 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 23 

theoiT i^i contradicted by all tlie subsequent investigations b^^ scien- 
tists. It is true Elliott did not have the advantage that these gentlemen 
had in later investigations nor the information that they possess, but 
when he states to this committee that his report stands uncontradicted 
and is the recognized authority by this Government, I think I am at 
lilierty to criticise such a claim and refer to the subsequent reports, 
which overthrow his views. 

Again in his report he says the driving destroys the virility of the 
males that escape from the killing grounds or are rejected. You are 
aware, gentlemen, that many are rejected in every drive as either too 
old or too young. This novel theory is also overthrown. He assumes 
that the testicles of the seals, dragged on the ground in making his 
peculiar forward movement, would be injured, in coming in contact 
with rough substances over which the seal was driven. He did not 
seem to know the characteristics of the seal. When an examination 
was made it was shown that when they^ move over the ground that por- 
tion of the body is drawn up in the body and no injury can possibly 
result from it. 

He is again in error as to the feed of the pups. He declares that 
thev can be supported on certain roots that are found around or float- 
ing al)out the islands. An examination of the pups demonstrated that 
they are supported alone upon the milk of the mother. Time and 
again have all these different questions been discussed and decided 
adverse to the views of Mr. Elliott. 

The committee will find in the authorities I shall refer to the deci- 
sions of competent experts sustaining all these views I have main- 
tained. Further, they will see that for the first time, in 1898, the 
British and Canadian commissioners sustained the propositions that I 
have laid down, and that they contradict Mr. Elliott on most, if not all, 
of these controverted questions. 

The Chairman. Senator Faulkner, is there anything to show what 
proportion of female seals bear young annually^ 

Mr. Faulkner. It is about an even division. 

The Chairman. It is about what^ 

Mr. Faulkner. Statistics show that the birth rate of male and female 
is ai)out the same. 

The Chairman. No; you do not understand me. What proportion 
of female seals bear young? 

Mr. Faulkner. You mean at what age? 

The Chairman. No; after they get to the bearing age, what propor- 
tion bear young? 

Mr. P^AULKNER. Almost every one. 

The Chairman. Then there must be some virility around there. 

Mr. Faulkner. You could almost say everv one bears a pup 
annually. 

Mr. Hill. You are opposed to this bill? 

]\Ir. Faulkner. Yes. 

Mr. Hill. What is your position — is it to let things alone and let 
the herd die out ? 

Mr. Faulkner. I am not afraid of the herd dying out. 

Mr. Hill. You stated yesterdav that it showed a very rapid decrease. 

Mr. Faulkner. Of course; and it will until we stop pelagic sealing. 
Until pelagic sealing is stopped it will decrease to a certain point. 
You can see how far it will decrease. It will continue to decrease to 



24 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

that point when tho reduction in the number of the herd will render 
it unprofitable to continue pelag-ic sealing'. 

Mr. Hill. You propose to let it be decreased to that points 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir. 

Mr. Hill. What action do you propose to prevent it^ 

Mr. Faulkner. I propose that the Governnient proceed with its 
negotiations as rapidly as possible with the hope that it will, by 
proper conventions with England, Japan, and Russia, stop pelagic 
sealing and, in the mean time, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor 
having the power to regulate the numljer of seals killed annually, tho 
herd can be protected and improA'cd on land and at the same time a 
fair revenue from this industry will be brought into the Treasury. 

Mr. Hill. What do you mean — to reduce tho number that are 
killed on land^ 

Mr. Faulknj^k. Yes; he has the power under this lease to reduce it 
to any number that he may deem proper. 

Mr. Hill. I thought your position was that it did not affect the 
case to kill on land. Why is the necessit}'^ for reducing the killing- on 
land i 

Mr. Faulkner. As the herd decreases of course you are bound to 
reduce the numl)er killed on land, for the reason that there is not that 
number of killable seals. 

]\Ir. Cooper. Is there any way for this Government to prevent the 
killing at sea^ 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir; none at all except by international agree- 
ments 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. I understood you yesterday — and, 
thinking about it afterwards, I thought perhaps I misunderstood you — 
to say that tho number of seals killed last 3'ear was only about 50 per 
cent of what they were the year previous to that. 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir; that was with reference to pelagic sealing. 
No; the number was about 19,000, I think. 

Mr. Elliott. Twenty-two thousand in the last three years. 

Mr. Faulkner. I did not make that statement. 

Mr. AViLLiAMS, of Mississippi. That was it, then; you referred to 
the pelagic sealing? 

Mr, Faulkner. Y^es; the number of killed by this report, and it 
only goes to 1891. In 1903 it was 19,000, I think. 

Mr. Elliott. Twenty-two thousand for tho last three years. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. If the killing by pelagic sealing 
docroased .50 per cent, the reason of the decrease was that they could 
not tind the seals, was it not? 

Mr. Faulkner. I am satistied that the closed season and the reduc- 
tion in the number of seals together had that effect. In other words, 
the reports show that there were only about 50 per cent of the number 
of vessels engaged in pelagic sealing last year that had previously l^een 
engaged in it, and the supposition of all parties in interest is that the 
result of that reduction in the number of vessels engaged in the catch 
was for the reason that it was not so paying an industry as formerly. 

Mr. Williams, of JNIississippi. Carrying that fact, if that is true, it 
must have been because tho heard had decreased so much that there 
was not enough business for over 50 per cent of the ships that wore in 
it before? 

Mr. Faulkner. Of course, do not lot the committee misunderstand 
me 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 25 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. 1 do not think I am misunderstand- 
ing you. The point I am getting at is this. If the seals are decreas- 
ing at that rate, if *our negotiations do not hurr}' up and come to some- 
thing ver}' shortly, there will not be anything to negotiate about. 

Mr. Faulkner. Oh, yes; you gentlemen are mistaken about that. 
You will find that these scientists maintain without any question at all 
in their minds — and I will give you the authorities — that there is no 
question that 3'ou could not destro}' the herd hy killing in the sea 
entirely. You could not, in other words, exterminate the species, as 
Mr. Elliott expressed it yesterday; that as soon as the herd was 
reduced to that condition that it would not pay pelagic sealers to tit 
out their boats the decrease would stop, and when that point was 
reached the increase in the herd would begin. You will see by all 
the authorities that it is an admitted fact that the killing of the sur- 
plus idle bulls is a benefit to the herd. It prev^ents the bulls from 
reaching an age when their fighting propensities are such that they 
not only kill the cows but the young pups. Excessive male life is an 
injury to the herd. The seal is polygamous in his habits. It takes 
but one bull for a great man}" cows. There are recorded instances on 
the Russian islands where two bulls supplied over four hundred cows, 
and those cows had pups the succeeding years. 

The Chairman. I suppose there has never been any question but 
what the making of so many steers or geldings has not had the eft'ect 
of extinguishing either cattle or horses^ 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. That is a different proposition. 

Mr. Clark. I understand they drive these bull seals up there through 
some kind of a chute and pick out the best ones and kill them. Now, 
that is precisely the opposite operation which we employ to get good 
horses and cows and sheep, and if they keep that up long enough 
would not that kill the herd off by the deterioi-ation of the herd? 

Mr. Faulkner. No; you are mistaken in the view you take, I think. 

Mr. Clark. That is what I understood — that they drive them up 
there and take the best ones. 

Mr. Faulkner. No; in the drives they take the seals of a particular 
age. Their trade demands seals of a certain age to obtain marketable 
skins, and those younger or older are rejected. For instance, a bull 5 
years old has passed the age when his skin is marketable. 

Mr. Clark. What is the matter with him? 

Mr. Faulkner. It is the condition of the skin; they do not want it; 
it is not marketable. Then the Government fixes the limit of the age 
as to the young ones. The young rejected seals are virile, just as good 
as the ones that have been taken; the same with the bulls that are too 
old to be taken for their skins; they are just as virile and good animals 
in every other way as the accepted seals except as to the quality of 
their skins. 

Mr. Clark. But the young ones that escape this A^ear they drive up 
the next year the same Ava}', and tap the best ones on the head and get 
them i 

Mr. Faulkner. It is not the best ones; it is simpW those of a par- 
ticular age. It is not a question of a better seal skin that determines 
the ones to be killed, but it is the age of the seal under the regulations 
of the Department. 

Mr. Watson. And you say that is necessary to preserve the herd? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Watson. Then if none were killed and the herd were left alone 



26 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

3^our argument would be that the herd would be exterminated in time 
by its own process^ 

Mr. Faulkner. No; when the_y kiUed down to that point when there 
would only be a sufficient num})er of bulls for the cows the tiohting 
Avould cease. These lights do not occur until the sexual desire causes 
the lighting propensities of the bulls to be aroused and the female is 
in heat. 

Mr. Clark. In these tights they have it is a survival of the littest? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; when it comes to the fighting it is a survival 
of the littest. 

^Ir. Williams, of Mississippi. That is the point exactly-. 

Mr. Hill. And it is the killing of the best seals. 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir; it is the killing of the inferior in age and 
strength. 

Mr. Hill. But the best of that age. 

Mr. Faulkner. No; they will take all of that age within the (juota 
they can get. It must be remembered that at no one time are all the 
seals of killable age on the islands; large numbers of the seals are in the 
sea. The 2-year-olds do not reach the driving grounds until perhaps 
in the middle of Julv. Under the conditions that are now imposed 
upon the lessees they do not allow a drive after the 20th of July. 
That is the recent limitation. It was formerly the 10th of August. 
Gentlemen, I will not detain you by reading my authorities, but I will 
refer you to the books and pages relied on, so that you may read it if 
you desire. I am going to give you the conclusions of some of the 
authorities. Part 1, The Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands, b}- David S. 
Jordan, page 185. He says: 

Land killing is not now a factor in the decline of the herd, and has not been since 
the islands came into the possession of the United States. It has not caused injury 
to the breeding of the herd, either by undue reduction in the number of males or 
impairing their virility, or in any other way. 

Land killing has tended to increase the size of the breeding herd by the reduction 
of the number of adult bulls, and their consequent fighting, which results in the 
destruction of females and pups. 

This is the conclusion reached b}^ Mr. Jordan after discussing the 
questions elaborately in his report. 

Here is a very important matter, gentlemen. It is worthy of your at- 
tention. The conference of fur-seal experts, representing Great Britain, 
Canada, and the United States, which convened in the city of Wash- 
ington November 10, 1897. The deleoates were D'Arcy Wentworth 
Thompson, on the part of Great Britain; and on the part of Canada, 
Mr. James Melville Macoun; on the port of the United States, Hon. 
Charles Sumner Hamlin and David Starr Jordan. That was the com- 
mission representing Canada, Great Britain, and the United States, 
that made its report in 1898. They found certain facts to exist and 
principles controlling this sul)iect that bear with great force upon the 
question before the committee. I desire to read several conclusions 
they reached. They decided that you can not connt the seals by taking 
the number of feet they occupy upon the ground, but by counting the 
pups. In the seventh paragraph of the ''Joint statement" thev sav 
(p. 21:2): 

The count of pups is the most trustworthy measure of numerical variation in the 
herd. The counts of harems, and especially of cows present, are much inferior in 
value. The latter counts, however, point in the same direction. The harems on all 
the rookeries were counted in both seasons. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 27 

Mr. Hill. How man}^ young- do they have ? 

Mr. Faulkner. One. 

Mr. Claek. One a year ? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; one a year. This joint conference passed upon 
the regulations of the Department and the contract of the lessees. 
This was in 1897, seven years after the report of Mr. Elliott. It is 
the admission of Canada and Great Britain. It is the tirst time the}^ 
have agreed to the proposition which the}" announce in the extracts. 
I shall read page 24;5. 

9. The methods of driving and killing practiced on the islands, as they have come 
under our observation during the past two years, offer no criticism or objection. 
An adequate supply of bulls is present on the rookeries. The number of older bache- 
lors rejected in the drives during the period in question is such as to safeguard in the 
immediate future a similarly adequate supply ; the breeding bulls, females, and pups 
on the breeding rookeries are not disturbed; there is no evidence or sign of impair- 
ment by driving of the virility of males; the operations of driving and killing are 
conducted skillfully and without inhumanity. 

That is the decision of the experts of Canada, Great Britain, and 
America. 

Mr. Cooper. At whose instance was that report made? 

Mr. Faulkner. This was made at the instance of the two Govern- 
ments, under the authority of a clause in the award of the tribunal of 
Paris, which provided that the United States and England should 
revise the regulations formulated by the tribunal at the end of live 
3'ears. Looking forward to that revision, in 1896 the two countries 
appointed this commission, that at the end of the five years they would 
have additional information upon which to base their new regulations. 

Mr. Cooper. Did this Alaska company have anything to do with it? 

Mr. Faulkner. Oh, no, sir; it was a governmental commission 
entirely. 

Mr. Clark. How did the Bering Sea come to be considered an 
open sea, b}' treaty or by international law? 

Mr. Faulkner.^ Russia claimed to some extent the right to regard 
it as an inland sea over which it could exercise jurisdiction, and the 
United States insisted that it had acquired by the treat}^ all the rights 
of Russia. That matter was submitted to the tribunal of arbitration 
of Paris and they decided against the claim of the United States. 

Mr. Wlliams, of Mississippi. Unanimoush'^, did the}" not? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes. Wejl, Senator Morgan did not vote on the 
question, but Justice Harlan voted with the other arbitrators. 

Mr. Dalzell. Is that a governmental publication? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes, sir; it is a publication called "The Fur Seal 
Islands in the North Pacific Ocean," by David Starr Jordan. 

Mr. Dalzell. Is it a Senate or House document? 

My. Faulkner. It does not mention whether it is a House or Sen- 
ate document. It says: " Government Printing Ofii<'e. Washington, 
D. C." (Note. — Treasury Dept. Doc. 2017, div. special agents.) 

Mr. Elliott. I think it is a Treasury document. 

iVIr. Faulkner. I suppose it is a Treasury document for the reason 
that the commission, I think, was appointed by the Department look- 
ing forward to the revision of the rules under a provision of the award 
of arl)itration. The report of the conference proceeds (p. 243), in the 
thirteenth clause: 

13. The polygamous habits of the animal, coupled with an equal birth rate of the 
two sexes, permits a large number of males to be removed with impunity from the 



28 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

herd, while, as witli other animals, any similar abstraction of females checks or 
lessens the herd's increase, or, when carried further, brinj^s a])out a natural diminu- 
tion of the herd. It is e(iually plain that a certain number of females may be killed 
without involving the actual diminution of the herd if the number killed does not 
exceed the annual increment of the 1)reedin{j herd, taking into consideration the 
annual losses by death through old age and through incidents at sea. 

Mr. Watson. What is the name of that book'^ 

Mr. Faulkner. The Fur Seals and Fur Seal Islands of the North 
Pacitic Ocean, b.v David Starr Jordan, with the following official asso- 
ciates: Leonard Stejneger and Frederick A. Lucas, of the United 
States National ]\Iu.seum; Jefferson F. Moser, lieutenant-commander, 
U. S. Navy, in command of the United States Fish Commission steamer 
Albatross; Charles H. Townsend, of the United States Fish Commis- 
sion; George A. Clark, secretary and stenographer; Joseph Murra}^, 
special agent, with special papers by other contributors. 

This joint statement of the conference (p. 243) further says: 

14. Whether from a consideration of the birth rate or from an inspection of the 
invisible effects, it is manifest that the take of females in recent years has been so far 
in excess of the natural increment as to lead to a reduction of the herd. 

The commission now admit our whole contention in regard to pelagic 
sealing, because there is not a female killed on the islands under the 
regulations of the Department. 

Mr. Elliott. Read the rest of it. 

Mr. Faulkner. I am going to. 

Mr. Hill. Is it easy to distinguish the male from the female? 

Mr. Faulkner. I ilnderstand from these writers — because joii gen- 
tlemen understand that I am not an expert — that it is after they reach 
the age of 2 years. 

Mr. Hill.' 1 thought you killed at 1 year of age. 

Mr. Faulkner. I do not remember whether the}^ have reduced the 
age to 1 year or not, but if they have done so, they only kill a very 
few of that age, because they are not marketable skins. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Yes; they kill them between 1 and 
2 years. 

Mr. Faulkner (reading): 

Yet the ratio of the pelagic catch of one year to that of the following has fallen off 
more rapidly than the ratio of the breeding herd of one year to the breeding herd of 
the next. 

Mr. Elliott. Therefore we admit that pelagic sealing does not hurt. 

Mr. Faulkner. No. It says 

Mr. Clark. There is no way to suppress this pelagic sealing except 
by a treatv with England, is there? 

' Mr. Faulkner. A treaty with England, which will be followed by 
a treatv with Japan and "Russia, but the stoppage of the Canadian 
sealers "would virtually stop the preying upon the Pribilof Island herd. 
They are the ones that do the chief injuiy. 

The United States has shown its good^ faith in this matter by pro- 
hibiting Ameiican citizens from pelagic sealing or from fitting- out 
vessels for that purpose, and we stand now, in the opinion of the 
experts, upon tirm ground. We permit the killing only of the surplus 
males that are an injury to the increase of the herd. 

Mr. Chairman, I desire to read the conclusions of one of the most 
competent experts on this subject; that is, an extract from the report 
of Mr. Stejneger. He has made an elaborate study of our islands and 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 29 

of those of Russia and Japan. I regard this report as the clearest and 
perhaps the most satisfactory^ discussion on the subject. He rests his 
conclusions on convincing reasoning, fortified b}' the fullest statistics. 
This is part 3 of the report of Professor Jordan. 

On page 227 of Leonard Stejneger's report he says (he was speak- 
ing of the Russians — and see how it tits the case exactl}"): 

The propriety of prohibiting the killing of fur seals on land for a period of five 
years, as a means of building up the seal herd, has of late been discussed by the 
Russian authorities. "When at sea they would be subject to the same danger from 
the pelagic hunters as the females. It shows that they have utterly failed to grasp 
the two essential points of the seal question as it stands to-day, viz, that the decline 
of the seal herd is solely due to pelagic sealing, and that the increase and consequent 
rehabilitation of the herd depends solely upon the preservation of the female seals. 
If pelagic sealing is stopped, no suspension — 

I use the English instead of the Russian word — 

is necessary, or, as I shall show, it will be directly hurtful. If pelagic sealing be 
continued, a suspension will not only not protect the herd on shore, but it will 
directly result in increased catches for the pelagic sealers as long as the suspension 
lasts, since they will have the additional males to prey upon which will have been 
spared on land. 

Now the future prosperity of the seal herd depends upon the number of females 
it contains; the number of bachelors is irrelevant in this connection. 

Wh_y ? Because there are so many surplus bachelors that the}' are in 
the way. 

Mr. Clark. What do you mean bj^ bachelors, old fellows that have 
been ruled out of the business^ 

Mr. Faulkner. No, male seals. The bachelors are generally spoken 
of as those seals that have not acquired a harem or place on the rooker- 
ies. [Reading from the report of Mr. Stejneger:] 

Suppose pelagic sealing be suppressed and a five years' suspension instituted on 
the Commander Islands; what would result? At the end of the five years there 
would be exactly as many females as if no suspension had been, not one more ( possibly 
some less), because no female seals would have been killed even if the suspension had 
not been Ijept. But there certainly would be a great many more killable seals at the 
beginning of the sixth year than during any one of the preceding years. A little 
reflection, however, will show that their total number must be less than the total 
sum of killed during these preceding years, inasmuch as the 2 to 4 years old bachelors 
of these years would have escaped the killing and become sikatchi, that is, available 
rookery bulls, and consequently unfit for killing during the suspension. And how 
would it look on the rookeries? * * * 

To sum up, a suspension as contemplated would result in ( 1 ) no addition of a single 
female to the herd; (2) loss in total number of killables; (3) highly injurious over- 
stocking of the rookeries with fighting males, and (4) a consequent heavy loss of 
young pups killed shortly after birth. 

This is the conclusion and summing up of this question, after four 
investigations of the islands b}' one of the most competent experts. 

Mr. Elliott. He does not know anything about our islands. 

Mr. Faulkner. I beg your pardon, he is absolutely familiar with 
our islands — more so than Mr. Elliott is. 

Mr. Elliott. He was onlj' two days on the American islands. 

Mr. Faulkner. I question that; I have read the report. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Who is that? 

Mr. Faulkner. Leonard Stejneger. He is a gentleman whom Sen- 
ator Nelson told me he had known from boyhood, and a man of the 
highest character; a man whose statement he would credit and for 
whom he had every respect. 

Mr, Williams, of Mississippi. Of course what you have read there 
is simply an opinion? 
F s— 04 3 



30 FUR HEALvS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Faulknek. No; this i.s u conclusion of the report of 4U0 pages, 
a conclusion drawn from the facts which he has discussed in 400 pages. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Of course every opinion is based 
upon some fact. 

Mr. Faulkner. It is based on his reasoning, his experience, and 
observation in four distinct investigations ordered by this (Tovei'iiment 
as its representative. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Jn that connection it may be science 
that God Ahnighty made a mistake to leave the cows and bulls to work 
out the problem in connection with natural selection. If so, it is the 
only mistake I have heard of him making, but it is certainly not com- 
mon sense tosaj^ that yoii must have man interfere with a wild animal 
and kill some of them in order to propagate the species to the best 
advantage. 

Mr. Faulkner. We have had these scientists working on this ques- 
tion twenty years. We have sent these men time and time again, in 
fact, almost yearly. The Government sends experts to the islands to 
get new light and more information on the peculiar habits and chara{;- 
teristics of this animal. Their conclusions have been reached by the 
process of observation, experiment, and study. They are now giving 
to you their scientific conclusions and information acquired through 
those investigations. 1 can not give it to you. You could not give it 
to me. We must rely upon the Government officials, accredited to us 
as competent, capable, and honest men who are sent to make a stud}^ 
of these subjects. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. Yes; for facts, but not for conclu- 
sions and opinions. 

Mr. Faulkner. For facts. I can not read you their arguments, their 
reasoning, their statistics, by which they reach these conclusions; I 
can not consume the valuable moments which your generous courtesy 
has allowed me to read these volumes; I can only give to you their 
conclusions and refer you in my brief to the pages of these reports, 
where you can read the reasoning and facts that justify their conclu- 
sions; that is as far as I can go. It would be asking too much to bur- 
den you further. [Reading from report of Leonard Stejneger, p. 228:] 

A suspension without total stoppage of pelagic sealing would be even more sense- 
less, as the females would continue to decrease at a much greater rate than the 
males, more females than males being killed at sea, and the resultant overstocking 
of the rookeries with bulls would be even more disproportionate and the more 
disastrous. 

Mr. Watson. That is not on account of the natural law at all, but 
they are reasoning that l)y pelagic sealing females will be killed and 
the^nales will not be killed on the land. But suppose you leave them 
all alone and do not kill any. 

Mr. Faulkner. If you believe this fact— that 80 per cent of females 
are killed at sea — that" the proportion of the sexes at birth is equal; 
that the habits of the animal is polygamous, when 50 to 150 cows are 
served by one bull, you will see that the full male life of the herd is 
not necessary to preserve and perpetuate the herd; 1 mean to the 
extent of the birth of the male. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. But on the contrary they are pur- 
posely placed that way so they can fight it out and the strongest may 
procreate the species,' and it "is by the struggle, the fighting, that the 
strongest and best fittest survive and serve the females. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 31 

Mr. Faulkner. The older the bull and the more vigorous the bull 
of course the more a))le is he to get a position on a particular rooker}^, 
and he can contest successfully against the younger \m\h and keep 
them awa}' from his harem. It is the age of the bull that enables him 
to hold the rookery against the young bull that is trying to capture it, 
it is not that when of the same age he was a stronger or superior bull, 
but that age has given him greater strength and weight. 

Mr. Clakk. The one that is holding the rookery will be bowled out 
when some other fellow gets big enough? 

Mr. Faulkner. Of course he will. That is the reason why it is 
not necessary in any manner to preserve the entire male life, the birth 
rate being equal. The increase and growth of the herd are controlled 
by the number of females preserved for the harems in which one bull 
can serve from 15 to 150 females, and therefore the male full life is 
not essential to ail'ect this object. 

Mr. Clark. There is no such thing as segregating a bull with his 
harem from the rest of them? 

Mr. Faulkner. They segregate themselves. 

Mr. Clark. Suppose man undertook to interfere and breed these 
seals like we breed cattle. There is no machinery that could be 
devised to segregate Mr. Bull with his harem from the rest of them, 
is there? 

Mr. Faulkner. I would not like to go near them when they are on 
these rookeries from what I have read as to their habits and disposition. 
[Reading from report of Leonard Stejneger, p. 228:] 

That these considerations are not mere fanciful theories is plainly shown by our 
experience on the Pribilof Islands. As soon as the falling off in the catch of the bach- 
elors called attention to the decrease of the seal herd a halt was called; the killing on 
land was reduced to a minimum. The temporary officials were then under the same 
erroneous impression as the Russian authorities now, viz, that the calamity consisted 
in the decrease of bachelors, and they overlooked that it was the females, and they 
only, that needed being looked after. For several years only a fraction of the 
killable seals were allowed to be taken. What was the result? A single additional 
female on the rookeries? No; loss to the lessees and the Government of the bachelors 
spared; a corresponding gain to the pelagic sealers; a deplorable superabundance of 
bulls on the Pribilof rookeries, and numerous pups tram pled to death soon after their 
birth. America has thus paid very dearly for her blunder. Are the Russians going 
to repeat it? 

It can now be asserted with certainty that a suspension of five years, or of one 
year, will retard the rehabilitation of the rookeries not only for so many years as the 
suspension lasts but until the blunder be corrected by a wholesale Jii Hi ng off of the 
superfluous bulls resulting at the end of the suspension. 

He says there that the injury will be a continuous one after such a 
suspension until the Government shall go to work and kill oft' the sur- 
plus bulls which cause injury to the herd. 

Gentlemen, 1 have a number of references to authorities relating to 
the question which I have discussed, killing on land, the effect of the 
suspension of killing, which I do not feel that it is fair to the com- 
mittee that I should ask to read. 

The Chairman. You might hand those to the stenographer. 

Mr. Faulkner. 1 will hand the references to the reporter. (See 
p. 33.) 

Gentlemen, there are several scientists who are equal to any of the 
scientists or experts whose opinions we have discussed who have inves- 
tigated carefully, earnestly, and with the desire of obtaining all the 
information possible with a view to reform the regulations provided 
for b}" the Paris award that are within reach of this committee, and I 



32 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

do think that as this is an important and vital matter to the (lovern- 
ment that all the light that can possibly be thrown upon it should be 
obtained from these jientlemen. I will be glad to give to the com- 
mittee their names and addresses. 

Mr. Hill. Do you know anything about the general sentiment of 
either the natives or what few whites there are up there in regard to 
this question '( 

Mr. Faulkxer. I do not, sir, not the slightest. I do not suppose 
the}^ feel any interest in it, providing you give them the support they 
are now getting. 

Mr. Hill. I mean as to the best course to pursue in the treatment 
of one of their native products there, whether they concur with the 
scientists on that question. 

Mr. Faulkner. I have never ascertained their views and therefore 
can give you no information upon it. 

Mr. Hill. Is' it not a fact that there is something of a prejudice 
against the opinions propounded by Professor Jordan^ 

Mr. Faulkxer. I have never heard any except from Mr. P^Uiott. 

Mr. Cooper. What is the net revenue this Government derives 
from the lease that it had made to this company ? 

Mr. Faulkner. It has derived a revenue of between ^7,000,000 and 
$8,-000,000 since the original lease was made. 

Mr. Cooper. What has it been in the last few 3"ears i 

Mr. Faulkxer. It has been small. You may multiply nineteen 
thousand and something by §10.27 and that would give 3'ou what it is. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. About $200,000 in round numbers. 

Mr. Cooper. That is the gross revenue. What is the net revenue? 

Mr. Faulkner. I can not tell you what the net revenue to the Gov- 
ernment is. Of course, the Government has had to keep certain ves- 
sels up there, as England does in the Bering Sea, to guard and protect 
the zone of 60 miles around the islands and other points, but this 
expense would continue under the terms of this award whether the 
lease was abrogated or continued. 

Mr. Cooper. Does the Secretaiy of the Treasury make a statement 
of what net revenue is derived from that lease? 

Mr. Faulkxer. I have not seen it; it may be in his report. 

The Chairmax. I do not know whether you care to express your 
opinion, but suppose this resolution was passed and the Government 
should kill 5,0'OU or 6,000 seals a year and appropriate the skins, would 
your company have any claim for damages against the Government of 
the United States under this contract? 

Mr. Faulkner. I think if you would abrogate and rescind the con- 
tract it would. 

The Chairman. Suppose we should simply do what this resolution 
requires ? 

Mr. Faulkner. That abrogates the contract, annuls it. I say, if 
you abrogate the contract I can not understand wh}^ the Government, 
under the decision of the Supreme Court, after entering into a contract 
in reference to a property matter, is not bound by the terms of that 
contract equally with the other contracting party. 

Mr. Watson. But does not the contract itself provide for a 
suspension ? 

Mr. Faulkner. It provides for a regulation, not a suspension of 
the contract. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 33 

Mr. Watson. Then, what is the differencewhether it is a suspension 
by the Treasuiy or the agent of the Treasury, or b}' Congress? 

Mr. Faulkner. No, sir; there is no provision for suspension. 
There is a provision 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. There is a provision that they shall 
be taken under limitations and restrictions to be prescribed by the 
Secretary of the Treasury. 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; it is in substance. Yes; I will read it. It is 
a very short clause of this contract. 

The Chairman. We give your company the exclusive right to kill, 
do we not? 

Mr. Faulkner. Yes; but here is a limitation of the rights of the 
company and a provision that protects the Government, in ni}^ judg- 
ment, in the limitation of the annual catch. It has acted under this 
clause and prescribed yearly the number of seals that shall be taken 
by the company: 

The said company also agrees faithfully to obey and abide by all rules and regula- 
tions that the Secretary of the Treasury has heretofore or may hereafter establish or 
make in pursuance of law concerning the taking of seals of said islands, and concern- 
ing the comfort, morals, and other interests of said inhabitants, and all matters per- 
taining to said islands and the taking of seals within the possession of the United 
States. 

I think there is no question of the right of the Secretary under that 
clause of the contract to limit and provide by regulations what shall 
be the annual catch. What I can not understand, and I have never 
understood, is why if a limitation is necessarv in the judgment of Con- 
gress, and that it should be limited to 5,500 a year, why is it that you 
want to abrogate the contract instead of allowing the lessees to take 
the 5,500. There can be given no satisfactoiT reason for it. 

You invited the entering into this contract in good faith. We 
obtained the contract under a bid in which we offered three times more 
than our competitors were paying. W^e have lost by it. From 
100,000 a 3'ear we have been reduced to 7,500 two 3'ears, and the aver- 
age for twelve years has been onl^^ 17,506 a year. We have therefore 
made no great profit, as you can see, in this matter. 

W^hat can be the object in abrogating a contract when you have the 
power through your Secretar}" to control the number of every annual 
catch and still preserve the good faith of the Government with the 
lessee ? 

The Chairman. I think you stated your position on that veiy well 
yesterday. Mr. Hitchcock is here from the Department of Commerce 
and Labor. He came here upon a letter from me written at the sug- 
gestion of one of the members of the committee, and we will now hear 
Mr. Hitchcock. 

references to Jordan's report, 1898 (presented by senator 

faulkner). 

As authorized by the committee, I append to my remarks the fol- 
lowing references to the pages where the subject mentioned will be 
found in part 1 of the Report of David Starr Jordan on the Fur 
Seal and Fur Seal Islands, 1898. 

1. The causes which led to the depletion of the herd on the Pribilof 
Islands in 1831, page 25. 



84 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

2. Elliott's method of estimiitinonumborof seals on the island over- 
thrown, pages 77, 7S, 7!». 81, S8, 84, Sl>, Jn5. 

Elliott's theory of overdriving overtiirown, pages 12(), 127, 128. 
Elliott's theorv of nourishment of pups controverted, pages 163 and 
164. 

3. The onlv possible method of approximating the number of seals 
is by count of pups, pages 92, 93, 94, 96, 240. 

4. Seals of all classes on islands in 1897, page 100. 

5. In 1897 rookeries were overstocked with male life, page 111. 

6. Land killing under proper regulations does not injure, but bene- 
fits the growth of the herd, pages 106. 119, 120, 150, 185, 210 (Note), 
243; overkilling has not occurred, page 121; killing bachelors not a 
factor in decline, page 123; premature killing wasteful, but not injuri- 
ous, page 124; hypothetical case of killing injurious, page 120, but 
such killing not practical, page 121. 

7. Conclusions of report of experts, page 189, 

8. Table showing killing on land and sea, page 211. 

9. Number of bulls necessary on islands, page 194, 

10. Idle bulls, page 47; number of idle bulls, pages 97 and 98. 

11. Islands where seals are not disturbed adjacent to the Pribilof 
Islands, pages 32, 94, 98, 121, 138. 

12. Percentage of females killed bv pelagic sealing, pages 154, 156, 
158, 244, and 245. 

13. Destructive effect of pelagic sealing, pages 170, 171, 172, 185, 
186, 189, 243, and 244. 

STATEMENT OF MR. FRANK H. HITCHCOCK, CHIEF CLERK OF THE 
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND LABOR. 

(See also p. 52. ) 

Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. Chairman, the Secretary received 3^our letter 
requesting that the Department be represented at this hearing, and he 
has accordingly directed me to be present and to answer, as well as I 
am able, au}^ questions your committee ma}' wish to ask regarding the 
attitude of the Department toward this resolution. 

The Chairman. 1 wrote the letter at the suggestion of Mr. Williams, 
of Mississippi, If he has any questions to ask he may proceed. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. The letter was written to Mr. Hitch- 
cock at my suggestion. 

The Chairman. The gentleman from Mississippi requested that the 
Department be notified to appear, and in response to that I wrote to 
Secretary Cortelyou, and Mr. Hitchcock appears for the Secretary. 

Mr. Williams of Mississippi. There is nothing particular that I 
wanted, I just wanted a statement of the opinion of the Department 
about this matter and wanted that to go before the House, so the 
House would have the benefit of it, 

Mr, Hitchcock. I will say, Mr. Chairman, that our Department 
has not been indifferent to this matter of the fur seals. From the time 
the service was transferred to us on the 1st of July it has received 
careful attention. 

We have taken measures to ascertain the condition of affairs on the 
islands and the condition of the herd. We have taken advantage of 
evei'}^ available source of information. We have obtained the opinion 
of practically every expert in the United States, including that of Mr. 
Elliott. As a result of our inquiries, and in view of the opinions 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 35 

obtained, we have reached a conclusion as to the proper course for 
the Department to follow if the matter is left in our hands. 

It is the opini(5n of the Department that the time has come to adopt 
some positive measures for the further restriction of the killing- on the 
islands. The Department, however, does not think it would be wise 
at the present time to suspend the killing- entirely, and for that reason 
we are not in favor of the resolution as it now stands. 

I take it that the purpose of the resolution is to preserve enough 
male life on the islands to guarantee the perpetuation of the herd. 
The Dei^artment is contident that the desired end can be accomplished 
by applying less drastic measures. If the herd can be saved without a 
complete suspension of the killing it would certainh' be a serious mis- 
take to take such action at this time. Why % Because the result would 
be a larger surplus of male seals on the islands, and these seals would 
go into the sea to become the pre}^ of the pelagic sealers. 

Just at this time when we have reason to believe that the pelagic hunt- 
ers are becoming somewhat discouraged, and when we desire them to 
become still more discouraged it would seem most unwise to provide 
for them an additional stock of seals, and thus add to the profits of 
their business. The great object to l)e obtained, everybody seems to 
agree, is the cessation of pelagic sealing. AVe want the Government 
to negotiate with Great Britain for a revision of the sealing regula- 
tions. In order that we may be successful in these negotiations it is 
highly important that no impetus be given at this stage to the pelagic 
sealing industry, because that industry- continues to be the chief 
obstacle to such negotiations. It is the influence the Canadian 
sealers bring to bear upon the British Government that stands in the 
way of a revision of the regulations. 

Furthermore, if we take this action of suspending immediately all 
killing on the islands, it deprives us of a measure that can be offered 
to the British as an inducement for similar action on their part regard- 
ing pelagic sealing. Pending the adoption of new regulations for the 
better protection of the seals, we want to ask Great Britain to stop all 
killing at sea. In return for such action we can offer on our part to 
stop the killing on land. 

For these reasons it seems to the Department that it would be very 
unwise, in advance of any understanding with the British, to suspend 
all killing on the islands. Such action would impede the Government 
in its efforts to secure an international agreement for the preservation 
of the seals. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. But what number do you propose to 
restrict it to? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I shall be very glad to explain to the committee 
in detail the plan we have tentatively fixed upon. While we may 
decide to modify it somewhat as to the details, it will represent in its 
main features the policy the Department is ready to carry out. 

First of all, we propose to limit still further the ages at which seals 
can be taken; we will prohibit altogether the killing of seals under 
2 years of age; we will also prohibit the killing of seals above 4 years 
of age. Killing will thus be restricted to seals between 2 and 4 years 
old. Furthermore, a regulation will be issued requiring the com- 
pany, under the direction of our agents, to cull out from the drives 
and release a certain number of 3-3^ear-old males, and likewise a 
certain number of 2-year-old males, say about 1,000 of each. The 



36 FUR 6EALS OF ALASKA. 

enforcement of these meiisuies, accordiiio- t() the opinion of experts 
well qualified to judg-e, will undoubtedly provide a suppl}^ of male 
seals amply suftieient to insure the perpetuation of the herd, which I 
understand to be the object of the resolution your committee is now 
considering. 

The Chairman. Will these be selected seals; these 1,000? 

Mr. Hitchcock. They will be required to cull out the best ones. 

The Chairman. They will g-et the best? 

Mr. Hitchcock. As the pods come up in the drives they will pick 
out from each pod the best seals and release them. 

Mr. Clark. For breeding- purposes? Do you limit, then, these 
selected to a certain number or kill all over that age limit? 

Mr. Hitchcock. In addition to the restrictions outlined, we propose 
to cut down the quota— the number of seals the compan}^ is allowed to 
take. 

Mr. Elliott. How many are they allowed to take? 

Mr. Hitchcock. At present their quota is 30,000. We propose to 
cut it down to one-half of that number — to 15,000. I do not mean to 
say that under these regulations the company- will be able to get 15,000. 
That remains to be seen. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. You propose to forbid the killing of 
seals under 2 years old? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. At 2 years of age that is the veiy 
time you can tell the difference between the bull and the cow. In other 
words, if you kill nothing under 2 years old there should be no reason- 
able excuse for a mistake in that respect? 

Mr. Hitchcock. You are quite right; that is the point. The great 
objection to killing these small seals, and 1 take it the only objection, 
is the difficulty in distinguishing the males from the females. 

Mr. Cooper. Has Canada or Great Britain placed any limitation on 
the sea killing of seals? 

Mr. Hitchcock. As to number; no. 

Mr. Faulkner. Nor as to sex, either? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Nor as to sex. 

Mr. Watson. Then you would limit them to 15,000? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes; in addition to culling out these male seals, it 
is our purpose to limit the catch to 15,000. 

Mr. Watson. After they are culled out you will not permit, under 
anj'^ circumstances, the killing of more than 15,000? 

Mr. Hitchcock. No, sir; that is our proposition. 

Mr. Clark. How many is that supposed to ))e? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I can give you the exact figures. They are from 
the latest reports of the agents and have not been hitherto published, 
except in part. I think some of you gentlemen will be surprised when 
you hear the figures read. 

A census taken by the agents last season showed the presence on the 
tw^o islands (St. Paul and St. George) of 97.296 breeding cows. Taken 
in connection with the records of the years immediately preceding 
these figures are surprisingly large. They seem to indicate that the 
number of cows has been increasing instead of declining. In 1899, 
five years ago, there were 89,261 cows on the islands, while in 1903, 
according to the figures I have just quoted, there were over 97,000. 



FCTR SEALS OF ALASKA. 37 

Mr. Clark. Now, they have one calf or pup or whatever vou call 
them? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Practically every cow gives birth to a ''pup," as 
the young seal is called. 

Mr. Clark. It would be a liberal estimate to say that 60 per cent 
would have young? 

Mr. Hitchcock. That would be an underestimate. 

Mr. Dalzell. Nearly all of them have, according to Senator 
Faulkner. 

Mr. Clark. Cattle will not do that well. 

Mr. Hitchcock. It is a well-established fact as regards the seals. 

Mr. Clark. What per cent do you say have pups? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I do not care to commit m3^self as to the exact per 
cent, for I am not positive. 

Mr. Clark. I am not trying to get you to commit 3'ourself posi- 
tively, but 3'ou ought to have some idea about it. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Nearly every cow has a pup. Scientists all agree 
to that. 

The Chairman. Senator Faulkner said practically all of them. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. Chairman, that fact is generall}^ assented to. 
I think Mr. Elliott will agree to that. 

Mr. Clark. Has the Department an}" information as to how many 
seals of all sorts these pelagic fellows get hold of? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Most assuredly. 

Mr. Clark. How many of those ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I shall be glad to give you the figures in a moment, 
if you will pardon me for an instant 

Mr. Clark. Certainly. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Last 3'ear the number of active bulls on the islands — 
that is, bulls having harems — according to an actual count made ))y the 
agents, was 2,343. Five years before there were 4,573, or nearl}" 
double the number for last season. 

Mr. Clark. What do you mean by active bulls? 

Mr. Hitchcock. The bulls that have cows. 

Mr. Clark. How many are there that do not have cows? 

Mr. Hitchcock. There were close to 500 idle bulls, or bulls without 
cows, on the islands last summer. Our agents were instructed to count 
the idle bulls last season, and as a result of their count they state posi- 
tively that there were nearly 500 on the two islands. The number on 
St. Paul was 418, while on St. George there were about 75. It would 
seem from these figures that there is still a considerable supply of sur- 
plus bulls in the herd. 

Mr. Hill. Does the Department keep account of the expense of 
supervising and watching this, as compared with the revenue received 
from it? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes, a complete account. 

Mr. Hii>L. Can you give the net profit or loss on the whole transac- 
tion annually? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I can not give it to you at present, because I have 
not the figures with me; but I can send them to the committee, if 
desired. 1 have the records at my oflice. 

Mr. Hill. Does that account include the cost of the revenue-patrol 
service ? 



38 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Everything- in coniieotion with the fur-seal service. 

Mr. Clakk. 1 want to get the tigiire.s. You say 97,000 cows^ 

Mr. Hitchcock. Ninety-seven thousand two hundred and ninet3^-six. 

Mr. Clark. And how nmn}^ active l)ulls';' 

Mr. Hitchcock. Two thousand, tiiree hundred and forty-three. 

Mr. Clark. And how many inactive l)ulls^ 

Mr. Hitchcock. About 500 on both ishuids. 

Mr. Clark. Is that all the l)ulls there are up there? 

Mr. Hitchcock. That is all of the bulls. That does not mean all 
the male seals, however. 

Mr. Clark. There isn't any sort of a male seal except a bull, is 
there ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. You understand that before the male seals reach 
maturity they are not called bulls. 

Mr. Clark. What are they called? 

Mr, Hitchcock. The term usually employed is "bachelors." 

Mr. Clark. They are of no earthly account, are they? 

Mr. Hitchcock. The company would not say that; it is the bach- 
elors they take for their skins. 

Mr. Clark. What I want to get at is the total number. You say 
there are 97,000 cows, 2,300 heads of families, and 500 that are not 
doing anything? 

Mr. Hitchcock. There were probably over 200,000 seals of all kinds, 
including pups, on and about the Pribilof Islands last summer. 

Mr. Clark. Senator Faulkner saj^s this company averages 17,000 
that they kill. How many do the English and the Japanese get? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I am coming to that. 

Mr. Clark. Are those figures in such shape that you can hand them 
to the reporter? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes; I have them in tabular form. 

Mr. Clark. What I want is to get at the facts, so we can form some 
rational conclusion as to whether this seal herd is decreasing or increas- 
ing', or what it is doing. 

The Chairman. Do your figures show a comparative statement? 

Mr. Hitchcock. They do. 

The Chairman. You may insert them in the records. (See p. 57.) 

Mr. Hitchcock. I will do so. But if you will permit me, I should 
like to present at this time the statistics that were requested a moment 
ago regarding pelagic sealing. The numl)er of skins taken last season 
off the northwest coast and in Bering Sea by the Canadian sealing fleet, 
as officially reported by our consul at Victoria, was 12,026, to which 
should be added 765 skins taken along the coast b}^ Indians in canoes, 
making a total of 12,791. These figures relate exclusively to the 
American herd. They do not include the skins taken by the Canadian 
fleet in Asiatic waters, amounting last season to 1,910; nor do these 
figures include skins taken from the American herd by vessels sailing 
under flags other than the Canadian, and there is reason to believe that 
during the past season a considerable catch was made b}^ such vessels. 

There can be little doubt, however, that the entire pelagic catch, 
including skins taken ])y Japanese vessels as well as Canadian, has 
been much smaller during the past few seasons than it was several 
years ago. In 1899, and also again in 1900, the Canadian fleet took 
over 33,000 skins from the American herd. Since then the catch at 
sea has undoubtedly been much reduced, and consequently the pelagic 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 39 

sealing indiistiy has ceased to be as profitable as formerl3\ Through 
the United States consul at Victoria I have obtained the annual state- 
ment of the Victoria Sealing Compan}' (Limited), which shows that the 
total net profits of the past season were only ^19,852 on a capitaliza- 
tion of $500,000, or not (piite 4 per cent. 

Mr. Cooper. What company is that? 

Mr. Hitchcock. It is the Victoria Sealing Company, of Victoria, 
British Columbia. 

Mr. Cooper. Where do they operate? 

Mr. Hitchcock. The^^ operate practically all the vessels that are 
engaged in pelagic sealing under the Canadian liag. 

The Chairman. We will have to suspend. You can give those fig- 
ures to the reporter. (See p. 57. ) I understand that one of the members 
of the House died since the adjournment yesterday and I do not know 
whether there will be an adjournment of the House immediately or 
not. If the House adjourns we might meet this afternoon. 

(Informal discussion followed, and thereupon, at 11.55 o'clock a. m., 
the committee took a recess until 2 o'clock p. m.) 

AFTER recess. 

The committee reassembled (pursuant to the taking of the recess) at 
2 o'clock p. m., Hon. Sereno E. Payne in the chair. 

Members present: The chairman, Messrs. Dalzell, Grosvenor, Taw- 
ney, McCall, Hill, Boutell, Watson, Williams, and Clark. 

STATEMENT OF MR. J. W. IVEY, OF ALASKA. 

{Ex- Collector of CuMoms in Alaslu.) 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee, I would prefer 
that the reporter be instructed not to take down m}^ remarks, as I am 
here with no set speech. My attention was called to this hearing by a 
newspaper article to the etiect that the seal question was being consid- 
ered by this committee. Having heard Senator Faulkner's remarks 
on this question during the morning session, and being informed that 
Professor Elliott would be heard this afternoon on the same question, 
I thought the committee might be pleased to hear from me from the 
standpoint of an Alaskan resident interested in the preservation of this 
industry. 

The Chairman. Have you any objection to the proposition of the 
Department of Commerce and Labor suggested b\^ Mr. Hitchcock this 
morning? 

Mr. IvEY. No, sir. I heard the statement made by Mr. Hitchcock, 
and while I agree with it in the main, I think it was possibly going a 
little too far. That is, I do not believe such stringent regulations are 
necessary in order to preserve the seal herd. The people of Alaska 
have weil-defined ideas on all their industries, but on account of the 
seal herd being away from the mainland of Alaska we have not taken 
as much interest in this question possibly as is the case with many other 
industries. 

I have been a resident of Alaska for about seven years; have trav- 
eled extensivel}^ over that country; have visited the seal islands, and 
have made quite a study of the seal question. 

I agree with Senator Faulkner that the killing of seal by the seal com- 
pany is not what is causing the diminution of the seal herd. I believe 



40 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

the whole trouble is caused b}^ the killing of the female seal by Cana 
tliaii and other seal poachers. If tliis could be stopped 1 am satisfied 
the herd Avould increase instead of diminish. 

On my visit to the seal islands 1 was informed by the agent of the 
Treasury I^epartment that they had that year counted 16,000 dead 
seal pups in the rookeries that had starved to death on account of the 
mothers being killed while awa}' in search of food for their j^oung. 
The killing of the mother seal causes death b}' starvation to all their 
3'oung, so that during that one year not less than 32,000 seal were lost 
to our Government through pelagic sealing. There is a feeling in 
Alaska that our Government has not put forth its best eti'orts to pro- 
tect this industry. It is my judgment that 75 or 80 per cent of the 
seal are killed within the 6(»-mile zone jiround the seal islands and 
within the 3-mile limit of the Aleutian Islands. \\"itliin the past two 
years I have seen Canadians engaged in sealing within our jurisdic- 
tional waters, and that, too, within 40 miles of where two or three of 
our revenue cutters were anchored with apparently nothing to do. 

And this brings me to the question upon which I wish to speak par- 
ticularly. The question is. How can we stop pelagic sealing? Mr. 
Chairman, our Government sends from five to eight revenue cutters 
to Alaska each year with apparently very little to do. Now, would it 
not be a good idea, as long as this expense is incurred, to send these 
revenue cutters there with instructions to proceed to Bering Sea and 
cause the arrest of all those engaged in sealing within our jurisdictional 
waters ? I am not here to criticise the Government for not having done 
this before, nor will I censure those in charge of the revenue cutters, 
but I am satisfied that if this is done and vigilant action is taken by our 
officers that 75 or SO per cent of this killing will be prevented. In 
fact, it is my opinion that if our Government enters upon this w^ork 
in dead earnest, affording full protection to the seal within our own 
waters, that all poaching on the part of Canadians and others engaged 
in this illegal practice will cease entirely, as it would not pay them to 
continue in the business. 

The officers of these cutters should be instructed to protect the seal 
in the spring and fall as they pass between the Aleutian Islands, as 
they go to and fro between the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, where 
thousands of our seals are slaughtered annually. They should also be 
instructed to patrol the 60-mile zone around the seal islands and put 
fear of God in the hearts of all those who are engaged in destro3ang 
our property. 

On the seal question we have had altogether too much so-called sci- 
entific and expert nonsense and not enough good, hard horse sense. 
Let us put in motion the machinery we have, which costs us a large 
sum of money annual!}', and see what can be done toward protecting 
this valuable industry. I positively know that these foreigners year 
after year engage in destroying our property within our jurisdiction 
with impunity, while it is made a crime for our own people to kill 
seal anj'where on the high seas from 300 miles south of San Francisco 
to the Arctic Ocean. 

The Chairman. Have you called the attention of the Department 
of Commerce and Labor to this matter!! 

Mr. IvEY. No, sir. The matter has only recently been placed in 
that Department, being formerly in the Treasury l^epartment. 

While I was collector of customs in Alaska the special agent of the 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 41 

TreasiuT Department and ni3'self wrote a letter to the Treasiny De- 
partment to the effect that if our Government would use machinery it 
has at hand, such as I have suggested, the seal herd would be saved 
from destruction. 

Mr. Dalzell. What proportion of pelagic sealing do you sav is 
done within our jurisdictional limits, and not on the high seas? 

Mr. IvEY. I say from 75 to 80 per cent of it. If this pelagic seal- 
ing is stopped I am satisfied seal poaching will all stop, as it would not 
pay them to continue in the business. 

1 wish to repeat that I do not think that trouble is on account of 
the land killing ])y the seal company. As long as a sufficient number 
of male seal are retained for breeding purposes the land killing works 
no injury to the seal herd. The bachelors or young male seal are 
those killed for the fur, and these are never allowed by the older 
males to ai^proach the rookeries or breeding grounds. To kill these, 
leaving enough for breeding purposes, does not injure the herd. It 
is the same as in raising cattle, the females are retained while only a 
sufficient number of males are kept for breeding purposes. 

Mr. Joseph Murray, a former Treasur^^ agent on the seal islands, 
told me some years ago that the land killing was no injury to the herd, 
but that the whole trouble grew out of pelagic sealing, which destroyed 
both the mothers as well as the pups. I believe the suggestion made 
bv Mr. Hitchcock to the Department of Commerce and Labor to be a 
good one, that no seal be killed under two years of age by the seal 
company. 

The whole question resolves itself into the prevention of pelagic 
sealing by Canadians and others engaged in that business, and if the 
committee will let this question alone, except to have the Department 
of Commerce and Labor make an order that no seal be killed under 
2 years of age and order the revenue cutters to go up there and do 
their duty for the protection of this industry, j'ou will have no further 
trouble with this question. 

The Chairman. I hope 3'ou will go to the Department of Commerce 
and Labor and make this statement to them. 

Mr. IvEY. I will be pleased to do so. 

The Chairman. It is a new statement to this committee and we are 
very glad to get the information. Is there any gentleman here who 
wishes to be heard in opposition to this? If not, we will hear anyone 
in favor of it. I suppose Mr. Elliott would be glad to be heard. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MR. H. W. ELLIOTT. 

(See p. 1.) 

Mr. Elliott. Mr. Chairman, I want to speak in brief reph^ to cer- 
tain criticisms of Senator Faulkner, who, in behalf of the lessees, has 
just made assertions touching the character of m}^ work on the seal 
islands in 1872-1874' and in 1890; also to ask some questions of the 
representative of the Department of Commerce and Labor. 

The Chairman. You may ask him some questions if you desire. 

Mr. Elliott. I have heard to-da}', here, for the first time, from 
the Department of Commerce and Labor on the point of what it will 
do to restrict the land killing. I have enjoyed the confidence of the 
gentleman who has just spoken here, for the Department, and we 
have always interchanged views without hesitation. 



42 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

The Chairman. We all have. What (juestions have you to ask? 

Mr. Elliott. Let Mr. Hitchcock tell the eoinniittee how many 
seals under 2 years old are up there to-day which he proposes to save. 

Mr. PIiTCHCOCK. Kindly repeat that question. 

Mr. Elliott. How many seals on those islands next summer under 
2 years of age will you be able to save, and will they kill 15,000, as 
you say you will allow? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Mr. P]lliott, I think you are as competent as I am 
to make an estimate of that number. 

The Chairman. If you want to ask anj'^ questions for information, 
ask them. We do not propose to allow a cross-examination. 

Mr. Elliott. I would like to have the gentleman answer the ques- 
tions in your presence. How many seals ? 

Mr. Watson. I do not understand that they were to have the privi- 
lege of killing 1.5,000. He said that they were to save all under 2 
years old. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes, sir; that is correct. 

Mr. Grosvenor. And if the 16,000 did not materialize, that would 
be their bad luck? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes, sir. 

Mr. Elliott. How would you draw that distinction, "long" two 
3"ears or " short " two years? 

The Chairman. W^hat do you mean by "long "years or "short" 
3" ears ? 

Mr, Elliott. They have "long" two years old or "short" two 
years old. 

The Chairman. We take the ordinary sense of two years whi(;h 
means twenty-four months. 

Mr. Clark. A yearling is a yearling from the time that it is a year 
old until it is 2 ^^ears old. 

The Chairman. He said no seals under 2 years old. A man of 
ordinary sense understands that, and I do not think we will quiVjble 
on that. 

Mr. Hitchcock. The agents on the island understand perfectly the 
distinction, and they will be able to carry out the instructions, with the 
information the}^ have. 

Mr. Elliott. He says these agents will carry out these instructions. 
How have they carried them out heretofore ? The law says they shall 
not kill any seal under a year old up there. I state here, weighing 
m}' words carefully, that thej^ have killed thousands of seals under a 
year old. 

The Chairman. That statement has been made and it has been con- 
tradicted. Have you any evidence as to that? 

Mr. Elliott. I have it here, and I want to present it. If these 
agents are going to make this selection in 1904, we want to know what 
the\" have done in the past year. 

Last summer they were allowed to kill 25,000 seals if they could get 
them. They only killed 19,000. I have an analysis of a sale made in 
London on the 17th of December, 1903. Fifteen thousand one hundred 
and eightv of those 19,000 skins were sold at this sale, on the 17th of 
December, and 1 have an analj'sis of the sale of every skin that w^as 
sold. 

The Chairman. You suggested yesterday that you should judge 
from the weight of the skins 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 43 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; from the London classification. 

The Chairman. Is a seal anything- like a baby ? We hear of differ- 
ent weig-hts in baJiies. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; they haye well-grown babies and underdone 
babies, and all that sort of thing-. The analysis of those ] 5,180 skins 
shows that there were 13,03-1: it -pound skins sold. Those were year- 
lings. 

Mr, Watson. What is a yearling; does it mean a seal from 1 to 2 
years old? 

Mr. Elliott. A yearling- is a seal after he is 12 months old. He 
then begins as a yearling. 

The Chairman. We understand that. 

Mr. Watson. The point is how many under 1 year old were killed? 

Mr. Elliott. ''Short" yearlings, '2,302. Then there were 312 
3i-pound skins; these were "yearlings," certainly. 

Mr. Watson. That doesn't mean anything- to us. 

Mr. Elliott. That means under a year. 

Mr. Watson. What does? 

Mr. Elliott. That light-weight skin. No man has got the sense, 
when those 3^earlings come up, if he kills them, say, on the ith of 
July, to know that he is not killing- a pup that was born on the 25th 
of July, the year before. 

Mr. GROsyENOR. How are 3^ou going- to tell ? 

Mr. Elliott. You can not tell, and therefore I say the burden of 
proof rests on the Treasury agent not to have them killed. 

The Chairman. If it is extended to 2 \^ears old it will help a good 
deal ? 

Mr. Elliott. It will. But will they extend it if they haye not done 
so here? 

The Chairman. Mr. Hitchcock appears to be a reputable gentleman. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, I agree with you perfecth\ I want to make 
this point on the matter: I want to help Mr, Hitchcock in this busi- 
ness. I want to put this entirely in his control. That is the point 
and the sense of this resolution, that all the killing up there, until the 
rookeries are in shape to kill again, should be entirel}^ in his control. 

The Chairman. It already is, is it not? 

Mr. Elliott. Not if he allows the lessees to make the selection 
after giying them a permit to kill so many seals. If he can so handle 
his agents as to make the selection and reseryation he has announced 
as the order of the Department, then he can. 

The Chairman. He can stop it altogether. 

Mr. Elliott. Not if he giyes them a permit to kill 15,000 before they 
start up next Ma} . 

The Chairman. I say he can stop it altogether. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; if he does not let them haye the permit to 
kill, then at the start they are checked. 

The Chairman. Then it is entirely under his control ? 

Mr. Elliott. When the permit is given it is under his complete 
control onh^ so far as preventing- the lessees from taking more than 
15,000 seals; then the shade of selection is done up there far from his 
immediate reach or control, unless his agents are like himself. 

Mr. Watson. If you want to discuss the regulations you ought to 
discuss them with him and not with us. 

Mr. Elliott. That is very true, but I go further here. I want him 



44 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

bound by a distinct statement to this committee that he will restrict 
this killing of 3'oung- male seals beyond all question, so as to really 
save them. 

The Chairman. What we want to hear is whether we shall pass this 
resolution. 

Mr. Elliott. This resolution will put the matter of excessive land 
killing- on the islands beyond any power of interference with the 
Department for at least three or four years. It will rest and save the 
few choice young- male seals now alive and permit them to grow up, 
so as to reach the breeding- grounds by 1907 or 19»»8, where thev must 
appear then or we will lose the life itself. The resolution permits him 
to kill •'food'" seals; he then kills onh^ the poor ones; there is no 
incentive or stimulus to get the good ones, which would prevail were 
the lessees to have the selections of the ''food" skins, after he had 
given them a permit to kill — this resolution puts him in sole charge, 
and then the difficulty of the thing is obviated at once. 

Mr. Clark. This last gentleman seems to indicate that these active 
bulls, the heads of families, segregate themselves from these bachelor 
bulls; that the bachelor bulls are driven ofi' to reservations. Is that so ? 

Mr. Elliott. These j^oung fellows are not allowed by the old bulls 
to go where the breeding is going on. A young male must attain a 
growth of six years before it is physicall}^ heavy and strong enough 
to fight with the breeding bulls for a place on the rookery. To stay 
there he must be at least as old as that. 

Mr. Clark. Now, if there is enough of these active bulls that get 
together with the cows, and these other fellows are entireh' separated 
from them, what harm would it do to kill that whole gang^ 

Mr. Elliott. They must grow up so as to till those places on the 
breeding grounds which become vacant bj'^ reason of old age and 
excessive service, 

Mr. Clark. Just the young ones, I mean. 

Mr. Elliott. They are all young ones. 

Mr. Clark. What becomes of the surplus old ones? 

Mr. Elliott. They lie right on the rookeries, and do nothing; they 
are the superaged and impotent old bulls, which can neither attract, 
nor control, nor serve as breeders; they lie around, somnolent for 
a season or two, then disappear by death. 

Mr. Clark. But they are not mixed up with these active, breeding 
bulls? 

Mr. Elliott. No; for the best of reasons. They are impotent; and 
the prepotent bulls pay no attention to them; nor do the cows; the 
rookery grounds are so scant in life now that there is plentv of room 
for these old and worthless bulls to lie in there, undisturbed, with 
harems all around. 

Mr. Clark. Why not knock them in the head and get the skins? 

Mr. Elliott. Tlie skins are not valuable. 

The Chairman. Don't you think the idea carried out by Mr. Hitch- 
cock allowing them to kill 15,000 would leave a sufficient supply of 
bulls for all purposes of propagation? 

Mr. Elliott. If I thought Mr. Hitchcock would be there to enforce 
the grades of selection which he says he will order spared, and which 
he announced to you this morning, year after year, I would not 
hesitate. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA, 45 

Mr. Clark. If 3'ou thought that would be carried out 3^ou would be 
in favor of it^ 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; if I thought he would be there, but I have found 
that these officers are constantly changing, and men come and go; 
good men are supplanted by men who are not so good, and the oppor- 
tunity comes in- 

Mr. Tawney. Have 3^ou an}^ evidence of collusion between these 
Treasurv agents and the company that has this lease, for the purpose 
of getting an}^ special privileges up those? 

Mr. Elliott. 1 do not know exactly what 3^ou mean 133^ collusion. 

Mr. Tawney. Are they under the influence of or in the emplo3" or 
connected with this companv in any w^ay? 

Mr. Watson. Do thev get a rake off? 

Mr. Elliott. The Government agent in charge to-day on St. Pauls 
Island left the emplo3' of the company two or three 3^ears ago and 
walked over into the Treasur3" agent's office. He is there to-da3^ He 
is giving information to the Department of Commerce and Laf3or. I 
do not mean to say that he would not discriminate against his compan3^ 
for the Government — well, what would he do? 

Mr. Taw^ney. Is he still an employee of the company ? 

Mr. Elliott. No. What I mean to sa3^ is this: Unless there is 
some man like Mr. Hitchcock here, it is more than likel3" that the 
lessees, through such means, will get back again and make their own 
selections as usual, and not his selections, if he should leave the ofiice. 
That is the point I make in this thing. If we had this business for a 
few 3^ears so fastened down that they could not get in there, and 
would be obliged to kill exactlv as the Department of Commerce and 
Labor prescribes, even if the man who succeeds Mr. Hitchcock is not 
as straight as he is 

The Chairman. You heard the statement of Mr. Ivy that 75 per 
cent of the pelagic sealing is done within our juri-sdictional waters. 
What do 3"ou say about that? 

Mr. Elliott. That is news to me; 1 do not believe it. 

The Chairman. How long has it been since you have been up there? 

Mr. Elliott. Not since 1890. But why should they come there? 
Their favorite feeding grounds are from 80 to 90 miles from the seal- 
ing islands, and that is where these hunters get them. 

The Chairman. Mr. Iv3' seems to sa3' that that is not where they 
get them. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I have heard that. I have formed a very high 
opinion of the revenue-marine service in Alaskan waters. I know 
that the seal patrol does not amount to much; but that is not in the 
slightest degree the fault of the revenue-marine service; the fault lies 
elsewhere. 

The Chairman. You know nothing to the contrary, but it is against 
your judgment? 

Mr. Elliott. It is against all the knowledge and judgment I have 
had on that. I know that since 1901 the Canadians have masqueraded 
as ''Japanese" fur-seal hunters, and in "Japanese" vessels have been 
able to practicall3^ nullity what little restraint the Bering Sea Tribunal 
rules and regulations impress. 

Mr. Clark. How old do male seals live to be ? 

Mr. Elliott. Sixteen or 18 3"ears old, on an average. 
F s— 04 4 



46 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Clark. What is the reason these 5 and 6 year bachelor seals 
are not g-ood for commercial purposes^ 

Mr. Elliott. Because the fur on their withers becomes patchy and 
harsh. 

Mr. McCall. Would it not be good to make a man's overcoat out of ? 

Mr. Elliott. No, not even good for door mats. The male skins 
are not good after the fifth year of the seaPs life. 

Mr. Clark. The period for the bulls is from three years to seven? 

Mr. Elliott. No; from the sixth year to the sixteenth or eight- 
eenth year, as breeders, they must get tiesh and strength enough to 
tight and stay on the breeding ground from -tth of May to 1st of August 
annually, without leaving their posts for an hour in that time, either 
to eat or drink. 

Now, I want to take up another point that might as well be clearly 
understood. 

Mr. Clark. Does it relate to this resolution ? 

Mr. Elliott. It relates to the record of land killing vinder the Rus- 
sian administration. I have the official records here, and 1 want to lay 
them before the committee. They show that when there was not even 
the thought of a pelagic hunter in the mind of anybody, much less 
the industr}" itself, that the Russian herd under a svstematic principle 
of killing otf all the choice ,young males every year passed from an 
immense aggregate of life in 1808 down to the point of almost total 
extermination in 1834 in these Pribilof Islands. 

Mr. Faulkner. Allow me to state that up to that period the Rus- 
sians killed both female and male, and I was not able to bring that out. 
I had the authorities and all that for it, but I shall put it in my brief. 

Mr. Elliott. I am glad he stated that. I do not object to the 
interruption. 

The Chairman. That is a fact? 

Mr. Elliott. No; it is not a fact. I do notilike to sa}^ that, but I 
have the official records here of the work. In 1819 — now, this is a 
point that ought not to be lost on the committee, because it is not m}^ 
assertion; it is a record of fact here; it is a record of excessive land 
killing, to the ruin of the herd, when there was no pelagic sealing even 
known; it is authentic and worth}' of your respect; it denies what 
Doctor Jordan and his associates have said beyond all successful con- 
tradiction or sensible disputation. Let me read what the official 
examiner, sent out by the board of directors of the old Russian- 
American Company, and who reviewed the whole season's work of 
1819 on the killing grounds of St. Paul Island, reports back to his 
company. Under date of March 15, 1821, the secretary of the Russian- 
American Company writes from St. Petersburg to Governor 
Muraivev, at Sitka, who is in charge of the entire Alaskan district, 
and in control of the seal islands, to wit: 

In his report, No. 41, of the 25th of February, lcS20, Mr. Yanovsky, in givinj; an 
account of his inspection of the operations on the islands of St. Paul and St. George, 
observed that every year the young bachelor seals are killed and that only the cows, 
"sekatch," and half "sekatch" are left to propagate the species. It follows that 
only the old seals are left, while if any of the bachelors remain alive in the autumn 
they are sure to be killed the next si:)ring. The consequence is that the number of 
seals obtained diminishes every year, and it is certain that the species will in time 
become extinct. 

The Chairman. That would seem to indicate that the Russians killed 
all the voung male seals ? 



FUK SEALS OF ALASKA. 47 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, they did; from 1 year old to 4 years old; just 
as we have been doing- since 1896 down to date, and as some "experts" 
are proposing to continue, even now. And these "experts" are now 
being quoted to you as "authorities" to prove that no excessive kill- 
ing of young male seals ever harmed this herd — that pelagic sealing 
alone injures it. 

The Chairman. No; we reserve enough now for the propagation of 
the species? 

Mr. P^LLiOTT. Yes; we do intend to; but the argument made this 
morning by the counsel for the lessees is that you can not kill so as to 
hurt the herd. He quotes Doctor Jordan and Doctor Stejneger at 
length to prove this and to deny the fact of the Russian record. This 
attempt on their part is foolish; it is dogmatic nonsense. 

The Chairman. No man would say that if you killed all the males 
ever}^ year that finally you would not destroy the herd. It would 
onl}'^ be a question of time. 

Mr. Elliott. Doctor ffordan has said it. He says that land killing 
would not and never hurt this herd; he says that no killing by the 
lessees can be severe enough to hurt the life of this herd, and Stejneger 
is quoted to show that two bulls are enough for the service of 500 
cows. Stejneger does not know that those bulls and all those cows 
have disappeared from the south rookery, Bering Island, three years 
ago. They are extinct. That is the kind of an object lesson these 
gentlemen present to you. 

The Chairman. That is a different proposition. 

Mr. Elliott. This is land killing. 

The Chairman. In 1819? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Doctor Jordan did not go back as far as that. 

Mr. Elliott. But he blindly denies these authentic records. We 
have this official record of the past to guide us for the present. I ask 
that it go in as a part of ni}^ remarks. 

The Chairman. All right, put it in. 

The matter referred to is as follows: 

"The official Russian record of the decline of the Pribilof fur-seal herd from exces- 
sive land killing." 

Note.— The full details of this record of the Russian period of diminution from 
1817 to 1834 and its gradual restoration to fine form and number in 1857-1860 will be 
found on pages 1599, 1601, 1602, 1603, 1614, 1615 of the Congressional Record, 
February 2, 1903, Fifty-seventh Congress, second session. 

The full details of Jordan's and ^Ioser'^ blunders in criticism of my rookery sur- 
veys will be found on pages 1599, 1600, 1601 et seq. of Congressional Record, Febru- 
ary 2, 1903. 

The full text of Jordan's branding blunders will be found on pages 1603, 1604, 1614, 
Congressional Record, February 2, 1903. 

The full text of Jordan's "joint agreement" with my annotations will be found 
on pages 1604, 1605, and 1606, and 1611, Congressional Record, February 2, 1903. 

The original surveys of the breeding rookeries which I made in 1872-1874, have 
never been published, duplicated, or seen Ijy either Jordan or Moser; they have seen 
nothing but the small census sketch maps of 1882, or my own sketches of 1890, which 
were enlarged by photography in 1891, and distorted even as sketch maps, hence 
their criticisms are puerile and are fully answered as above cited. The attorney for 
the lessees has been unfortunate in referring to them this morning. — (H. W. E., 
March 10, 1904. ) 

Mr. Elliott. Now I have a further remark to make. Doctor Jordan 
was introduced to 3^ou by Mr. Faulkner as a scientist, with four asso- 



48 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

ciates, Stejnoo-or, Lucas. Clark, and JNloser, who complotol}- deny the 
sense and intcUio-ence of m^- work. [Stejneger, least of all, should be 
heard. Me has had just nine days' experience and knowledoe of the 
Pribilof herd on the seal islands of Alaska. ] Doctor Jordan came 
down in 1S9(>. after spending foi-ty-three days on the islands for the 
first time in his life (neyer haying- seen a fur seal heretofore or haying- 
known anything about one), with three propositions which he called 
"discoyeries:'' Fii-st. That the fur seal l)ulls naturally trampled their 
young to death, and that that was the chief cause of the check upon 
their life, so that it would not increase aboye a certain figure in a state 
of nature. 

Second. That he had got a complete and successful scheme to put the 
pelagic sealer out of business by branding the female seals. 

Third. That he had secured a perfect agreement with the Canadians 
to suppress pelagic sealing; that he had this understanding with his 
British associates. [See letter to Senator Perkins, U. S. Senate, Cong. 
Record, Feb. 28, 1897, p. 2619.] 

Next year Doctor Jordan "discoyered" that the pups were not tram- 
pled by their parents to death, because a certain scientist in the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture found, after examining the specimens of "trampled 
pups " which had been brought down to Washington from the islands, 
that it was due to the rayages of an intestinal worm ! and now% after 
he had moditied this " scientific"' ])lunder of himself and associates in 
1897, by charging this ''chief check upon the increase of seal life in a 
state of nature," to the sand worm {uncinarla), which Doctor Stiles had 
found as the real cause of death. Now, this sand worm itself has 
disappeared from the islands and has not been noticed there since 
1900, so the "scientitie" checks of Doctor Jordan and his associates 
"discoyered" in 1890 and 1897 haye eyaporated into thin air — a 
sporadic worm, and that, too, only found on the sandy areas, less than 
one twenty-fifth of the breeding ground area. 

In 1896, in Noyembei", I remonstrated with Doctor .Jordan and 
urged him not to make this unfortunate blunder go into cold type, and 
cited my personal knowledge (in 1872, 1873, 1871) of the utter nonsense 
of his claim; but he persisted, and it appears in extenso in his prelimi- 
nary report of Noyember 7, 1896. (Treasury Doc. No. 1913, pp. 45, 
46, 47.) 

Not satisfied, howeyer, with this publication, he insisted on haying 
his scientific associates announce the "trampled pup'' discoyery to the 
scientific world by means of a paper read before the Biological Society 
of Washington, January 4, 1897. It was duly done and publicly 
indorsed by all of these gentlemen then. I alone, that eyening, when 
it was read, entered ni}" denial of its truth; that denial was heard b}' 
Doctor Stiles, and he proceeded to inyestigate with the result as I haye 
stated. 

I therefore object stoutly to the charge made this morning by the 
lessees' attorney that Doctor Jordan's scientific acumen is so oyer- 
powering in the premises that I am to be regarded, as not being pos- 
sessed of good sense when I differ frouj him. Why, indeed, should 
he be an}^ better judge of what the effect of land killing is than he 
has been of the cause w^hich killed these pups in 1896^ 

Also, what about this branding of seals, which he publishes in 
this same preliminary report (p. 62) as a swift, feasible, and certain 
means of putting the pelagic hunters out of business. He spread the 



FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 49 

"discovery" by syndicated letters all over the country, and his asso- 
ciates, Stejneger, Lucas, Moser, Clark, Murray, and Townsend, all 
joined in the chorus. This was "science," with a "weight of evi- 
dence" which was awful in its import for me to deny. I did, and 
did so with all plainness of speech. Doctor Jordan now knows that 
the branding- of seals is abject tomfoolery. He knows that it accom- 
plishes no sensible purpose whatever. Has he admitted the facti! Is 
it "scientilic" to be dogmatic in error? 

That mistake, like the "trampled pups," is another "scientific" 
blunder, which I never made; but at the same time j^ou will remem- 
ber I told this committee, in this room two years ago, that I was one 
of those men who did not claim to be above making mistakes — that I 
had made them and I had self-confessed them. 

Then he signed up an agreement with the Canadians in 1897, whereby 
he surrendered every indictment we had made against pelagic sealing. 
There is not a hint in that '' joint agreement," with its 16 articles, not 
a hint that pelagic sealing is harmful or should be suppressed. How 
did they get him to surrender that? B}' agreeing to the showing in 
article 9 that "during the past two years" there had not been any 
harm in driving the Canadians succeeded in getting him to drop any 
reference to the harm, or suppression, of their work in the sea. They 
would not stand, however, for anything more than the "past two 
years" as to the record of harmless land killing, nor for any future but 
the "immediate." 

So, if he has thus signally failed in those points, how can he claim to 
be an authority in all these matters as against me? 

The Chairman. Mr. Jordan has never surrendered the main con 
tention that the main difiiculty has been in pelagic sealing. 

Mr. Elliott. No; he has not, to us, but he has to the Canadians, 
as I have just pointed out; he has estopped us from making any com- 
plaint, officially, to Great Britain on that score. 

The Chairman. So that is about all he has left now? 

Mr. Elliott. That is all he has left. 

The Chairman, Had we not better keep it? 

Mr. Elliott. The pelagic sealing? 

The Chairman. No; our contention that that is the main difficulty 
and the main instrumentality in the destruction of the herd. 

Mr. Elliott. If that would save that life I would say keep it; but 
we must step in now to stop the elimination of that .young male fur- 
seal life b}" our own butchers. If t thought that 3'oung man [Mr. 
Hitchcock] would stay there, up in his present office, and be in 
charge of this thing as he has outlined the work of killing for next 
year, and knowing him as I have known him in the last six weeks, I 
would not object to any modification of this resolution; but is he cer- 
tain to be there? He maybe sent somewhere else next vear, or death 
may strike him down; so perhaps we ought to close this out from an}^ 
chance of anybody getting in there and getting around the next man 
who may have charge. The next man may not be so good a man; and 
it might be broken up. 

The Chairman. Cong-ress might change its mind next year and 
repeal it. 

Mr. Elliott. I think the chances are infinitely less that that will 
be done b}" Congress than that he will leave. 



50 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Clakk. Did not the House pass a resolution once to kill ofl' all 
the seals i 

Mr. Elliott. I believe they did, except enough to save the species. 

The Chairman. That was your original idea, was it not? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; but 1 planned to save enough for the preserva- 
tion of the species. 1 think if wo had done that in 1895 we would have 
saved ourselves a good deal of mortification and shame up there; and 
1 think it would have been an act of great mercy to those animals if it 
had been done. 

Mr. Clark. How many years will a seal cow breed? 

Mr. Elliott. A female will breed, in m}^ opinion, from the second 
year up to the ninth or tenth year. No man knows exactly. 

Mr. Clark. Is her hide any good after death? 

Mr. Elliott. As long as she lives the female hide is good. It is like 
a 2-year-old male, almost weight for weight, and the same (juality and 
of the same value. It is as fine a skin as the 2-year-old male skin, and 
it is almost impossible to distinguish them apart as individuals if they 
are "scraped up" on to the killing grounds. They look, act, and are 
outwardly precisely alike when side by side, 2-year-old males and adult 
females. 

The Chairman. Is there anything further you desire to say? 

Mr. Elliott. No, sir. 

The Chairman. Mr. Hitchcock wants a moment or two. 

Mr. Elliott. I would like to ask him one question further in the 
presence of the committee. He stated that the total pelagic catch this 
year was 12,000. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Practically that, by the Canadian fleet. 

Mr. Elliott. Then how do you reconcile the fact that the Lamp- 
sons sale was 13,000, the Hudson Bay 7,000, and the Lampsons held 
over 7,000 for the market sales, making a total of 27,000, as shown by 
these figures I have here ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Are all those "northwest'' skins if 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; here they are [exhibiting a statement]; you can 
look at them, I do not doubt the sincerity of your statement; but how 
do you reconcile this ? 

You see here 13,406 "northwest" skins in this Lampson sale cata- 
logue of December 17, 1908. 

Mr. Hitchcock. As I stated, my returns were procured through 
the consul at Victoria, showing the catch of the Canadian fleet. Those 
flgures gave a total of something over 12,000 skins. Nov/, I have no 
doubt that the dift'erence can be accounted for by the sealing under 
other flags, and particularly under the Japanese flag*. 

Mr. Elliott. But, Mr. Hitchcock, the Hudson Bav Company sold 
7,000 odd on the same day (December 17, 1903). 

Mr. Hitchcock. Where is the record of it? 

Mr. Elliott. In the Eur Trade Review. I have not that here. 
Not only that, but 7,00(> of the Lampson's Company was held o^'er to 
the March sales. 

Mr. Hitchcock. I should like to see the records proving the source 
of those skins. 

Mr. Elliott. It is in the Fur Trade Review. [New York, January 1, 
1904.] Now, gentlemen, you see how easy it is for an honest young 
man to be imposed upon by these fellows up in Victoria. It just shows 
the trouble where a perfectl}- honest Government official comes before 



FUR SEALS OB' ALASKA. 51 

you and states something- as a fact which is not true. He tells you 
that the pelagic people are going- practically out of business, when in 
truth they have done a big 1)usiness last year. Instead of only getting 
12,000 skins, 1 have the proof that they got 27,000. How was he 
deceived^ I will tell you. 

Mr. Faulkner. Will you present the proof to the committee? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I have shown here more than his statement. He 
has gone of course, on official orders, to the United States consul at 
Victoria. Our consul goes to the Canadian collector of customs; the 
collector of customs is in with this Victoria Sealing Company. He 
wants to make as poor a showing- of the work of his hunters for our 
people as possible, so we will have less opposition to them. They have 
been doing that for years; they have been hiding- their returns from 
the Secretary of the Treasury. They only allowed 7,206 skins throug-h 
our consul in 1902, when they took 22.812, and had Mr. Shaw tell you so. 
Mr. Shaw put certain clerks in his office on the carpet when I opened 
his eyes, December 4, 1902, to the error of his report to Congress of 
December 3, and they had a great clerical circus and a bad half hour 
with the Secretary. 1 don't know what became of it, but that didn't 
make any difference; the high official mischief was done — with all 
respect to this young man. He is in a position where he will be ter- 
ribly tried and "tempted; but I am perfectly willing to trust him. He is 
fully equal to the task if he is not interfered with. 

The Chairman. I don't think we will go into that. We are not 
going to assume that everybody connected with the sealing business 
is dishonest or likely to be except yourself, and I think you are going 
away off from the question. The question is whether you will regulate 
the killing on the island and not how many thousands of seals these 
pelagic sealers kill. 

Mr. Elliott. I think we should restrict the land killing- to a mini- 
mum of small male seals annually; indeed, it is imperative that we do 
so. Why, 12 per cent of the breeding bulls have disappeared since 1901. 
Fifty per cent will go of what is lel't in the next two years, and then 
all go, unless young bulls are spared now. I think Congress ought to 
restrict it to-day, so it will stay shut down that way for a few years 
at least. The killing of food seals is especially provided for in the 
law. It does not interfere with the contract; it gives the Department 
of Commerce a chance to get nothing but the inferior male seals and 
lets the surplus bull seals light it out in a state of nature. If you do 
not. you will never get young, virile breeding bulls to take the place 
of those old fellows now rapidily passing away. 

Mr. Hill. You do not think it would be right for the Department 
of Commerce to take 15,000 seals and sell them themselves in the face 
of a binding contract? 

Mr. Elliott. Under this contract the Department of Commerce 
can take them and turn them right over for the tax. There is nothing 
to prevent that. 

Mr. Faulkner. It directs them to be sold by the Department and 
turn into the Treasury the amount of money. 

Mr. Elliott. They can be sold without your tax. 

Mr. Faulkner. We do not Iniy skins. 

Mr. Elliott. You can huve them for your tax. 

Mr. Williams, of Mississippi. The resolution could be amended to 
meet that. 



52 FUK sp:als of alaska. 

Mr. Elliott. Yes; I think that is right. I would give the prefer- 
ence to "food skiir' killing ov^er everything, for the main thing now 
is to have oidy the inferior seals killed. The "food skin"' seals are 
antiscorbutics in the late fall, winter, and in the earh' spring. That 
is the time they need them most. I think if you did that you would 
do exactly right. If that is the trouble between the company and the 
Government, that can be easil}^ fixed; but the point is to fix it so that 
the}' can not get beyond, for a number of years, 5,500 skins annually, 
and give all of the best young bulls a chance to grow up and fight. 
Why, gentlemen, just think of the mistake of so killing these 3^oung 
bulls ofl' as to prevent their being in sufficient number to fight among 
thenjselves for places on the breeding grounds. You in doing that 
thing actually nullify the ver}^ fundamental law of their life, and 
you prevent any elimination of feeble and inferior bulls from the 
breeding grounds; 3'ou defy a law of nature, and the moment 3'ou do 
so you destroy this life. You make no selection of the best young 
bulls; you kill them all under existing rules, and then call in " scien- 
tists '' who, as naturalists, approve the work and deny nature. Save 
all of these .young bulls from this hour on for at least six or seven 
years and then we will do what is sane. 

The Chairman. That would increase the herd? 

Mr. Elliott. That v/ould allow the bulls to increase, to fight, and 
thus permit only the best of their race to go onto the breeding grounds 
as sires for the herd. We can not do this work of selection for them. 

The Chairman. Do you think that would increase it? 

Mr. Elliott. Yes, it would; it has done so before, in 1834-184:7, 
as I have explained; history will repeat itself. 

The Chairman. And make more seals for those pelagic sealers to 
operate on? 

Mr. Elliott. I hope we will do something on that line. 1 think we 
ought to do it; I think it would be a good thing to amend this resolu- 
tion by inserting the fur-seal bill you adopted last winter immediately 
after the enacting clause. The Senate is wrestling with the subject 
now; so let it rest here. 

Mr. Clark. Are those bachelor bulls good food for the natives? 

Mr. Elliott. Oh, 3^es. 

Mr. Clark. But those old surplus bulls 

Mr. Elliott. Those are not ''bachelors.'' The idle bulls are not 
good for any purpose; they are practicalh' dead bulls. 

Do 3'ou want me to bring in these figures about the pelagic catch? 

The Chairman. Bring in anything, as 3'ou like. 

Note. — For exhil)its, etc., submitted b\^ Mr. Elliott, see Appendix, 
page 59. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MR. FRANK H. HITCHCOCK. 

(See p. 34. ) 

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I should like to say to the committee 
that some years ago I was engaged professionally in biological work. 
In 1801 1 was one of the assistants of Doctor Merriam,the Biologist of 
the Agricultural Department, at the time he was serving on the Alaskan 
Fur Seal Commission. From that time to this 1 have maintained a 
deep interest in the seals. I have studied them from what I consid- 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 53 

ered to be a scientific as well as a practical standpoint. I am familiar 
with the literature on the subject. 

I have read Professor Elliott's work and I appreciate verj^ fully the 
ability he has shown as a naturalist. I give him all credit for the 
interest he has taken in this problem and the eli'orts he has made to 
accomplish what he considers the best solution of it. But at the same 
time I do not think that Mr. Elliott intends to claim any monopoly of 
expert knowledge on the subject. There are other gentlemen in the 
country who have given equal time to it and who are equally qualified 
to speak, and they seem to take a ditferent view of the present situa- 
tion. I feel that the Department is bound to follow the weight of 
opinion in this matter, and to accept the practically unanimous judg- 
ment of these other scientists. 

We have described to these experts the conditions that exist to-day. 
They have had a chance to stud}^ them from the latest available facts. 
We have their responses in writing, and thev are unanimous in the 
opinion that it would be both unnecessar}^ and unwise to require a total 
suspension of the killing in the manner called for by the resolution. 

I want to say to the committee that the restrictions I proposed this 
morning would be considered extreme b}^ these gentlemen. There is 
not one of these scientists who has suggested measures that are nearly 
as radical as those I have proposed. 1 have purposely made the regu- 
lations somewhat extreme, in the view of these gentlemen, with the 
idea of being on the safe side, particularly during this first 3'ear of the 
Department's administration of the seal service. 

So much in a general way. There is only one other point I want to 
take up, and that is the analysis Mr, Elliott has made of the London 
sales. 

Mr. Watson. After you have determined on the method of pro- 
cedure and fixed the limit, do you think there will be any trouble in 
having your orders executed, absolutel}^? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I do not. It is my opinion that those orders can 
be executed. As I said, the orders are so stringent that even if they 
are somewhat imperfectly executed there will be little danger of any 
serious injury to the herd. 

Mr. Williams. Is there an^^body up there to watch and see if the 
orders are executed? 

Mr. Hitchcock. During the sealing season there are four of our 
agents on the islands— two on each island. There is an agent on each 
island the 3^ear round; and during the period of active operations 
there are two additional men there to help supervise the work. 1 have 
no reason to believe, from what I have seen of the records, that they 
do not do their work faithfully. 

Mr. Watson. Do they change very often, or are the same fellows 
there nearly" all the time ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. No change has been made now for some years, 
and I should like to say in regard to the agent Mr. Elliott referred 
to as having been a former employee of the company that he has 
never been in charge of the islands. He is merely a subordinate. It 
is true, however, that this agent was previously in the employ of the 
company. 

Mr. Hill. He is an honest man ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes; as far as I can judge. 

Mr. Hill. If he is honest it does not make any difference. 



54 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Mr. Hitchcock. I have no roasoji to think otherwise. He came in 
through a civil-service examination. 

Mr. Hill. Now, Avith your reo-uhitions all in force Jind honestly car- 
ried out, will it not cost the Government more than it will get from 
the whole transaction^ 

Mr. Hitchcock. Do 3'ou mean in enforcing- the regulations? 

Mr. Hill. Is not the net result of Government interference in the 
matter a pecuniar}- loss, or will there be any net revenue to the Gov- 
ernment with your regulations carried out? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I will say in i-eply that of course the revenue 
depends on the size of the catch. 

Mr. Hill. But 1 say, as you propose to make it, with the 15,000 
limitation. 

Mr. Hitchcock. With the 15,000 limitation of course the revenue 
will be cut down. 

Mr. Elliott. How man}- will they get ? 

Mr. Hill. Never mind; let him answer my question. 

The Chairman. Suppose you let Mr. Hitchcock answer the question. 

Mr. Hitchcock. J will say frankly it depends largely on the expense 
of the patrol. Aside from that 

Mr. Hill. I mean with the faithful carrying out of these regulations 
and the present size of the herd, is there any money in Government 
control of the matter at all? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I doubt if there is very much if we charge against 
the seal service the entire cost of the patrol of the Revenue-Cutter 
Service along the Alaskan coast as well as in Bering Sea. 

Mr. Hill. If a business man was going into it — 

Mr. Hitchcock. Aside from the expense of maintaining the revenue- 
cutter patrol, the cost to the Government of the fur-seal service is com- 
paratively small, amounting to only about $30,000 a year. Of this sum 
about $12,000 covers the salaries and expenses of the agents employed, 
and the remainder is appropriated to furnish supplies to the natives of 
the islands. The expenses of revenue cutters in Alaskan waters last 
year, I understand, aggregated alwut $160,000, but only a portion of 
this sum can be properly charged to the seal service; just how much 
I do not know. On the other hand, the amount of revenue derived 
from the seals has averaged above $200,000 a year. 

Mr. Tawney. Is this patrol within the 60-mile zone; are the revenue 
cutters limited? 

Mr. Hitchcock. The main purpose of the patrol is to keep the 
pelagic sealers outside of the 60-mile zone. To accomplish this I pre- 
sume they patrol chiefly along the borders of the zone, but so far as I 
am aware they are not limited to any area. 

Mr. Tawney. How many cutters are there? 

Mr. Hitchcock. My impression is that recently the Treasury De- 
partment has not been sending more than one revenue cutter into Bering- 
Sea each season to maintain the patrol. Four or five other cutters are 
sent along the Alaskan coast, but they are engaged principally in work 
not connected wdth the seal service. 

Mr. Watson. The revenue-cutter service is not under your Depart- 
ment, is it; it is under the Treasury Department? 

Mr. Hitchcock. It remains under the Treasury Department, but so 
far as its duties pertain to the protection of the Alaskan seal heard, it 
must be governed by the regulations of our Department, just as it 



FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 55 

must be governed by our regulations in the enforcement of the navi- 
gation laws. 

The Chairman. Are not we obliged to have this revenue-cutter ser- 
vice there under the provisions of the treat}^ to some extent, b}^ inter- 
national obligation ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes; each government is expected under the agree- 
ment to mantain a patrol. 

Mr. Tawney. So that the cost of maintaining that service should 
not be charged to the account of the revenue deri^xd from the lease 
of this company? 

Mr. Hitchcock. It depends on how you regard it. When once this 
pelagic sealing question is settled that expense will be largely done 
away with. 

Mr. Taw^ney. Is there any hope of that being done ? 

Mr. Hitchcock. There is hope. Our Department most earnestly 
hopes that something will be done. We propose to push the matter 
as much as we can. We are acting upon the supposition that some- 
thing will l)e done. 

Mr. Tawney. Have you any reason to believe that the patrol was 
unsuccessful or of no consequence or inefhcient in protecting the seal 
life within the 60-mile zone? 

Mr. Hitchcock. I have no positive evidence as to that. 

Mr. Tawney. Have you any positive evidence of pelagic sealing 
going on within the t)()-mile zone. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Yes, sir; there is positive evidence that pelagic 
sealers have been within the zone. They approached within a few 
miles of the islands last season, as you will see stated in the Secretary's 
annual report in the chapter with reference to the Alaska seal service. 

Mr. Elliott. They were Japanese boats. 

Mr. Hitchcock. The agents were unable to tell the nationality of 
the vessels. 

Mr. Elliott. If the}" are Japanese, you can not interfere with them. 

Mr. Hitchcock. Now, if you will permit me, Mr. Chairman, I should 
like to refer again to Mr. Elliott's analysis of the London sales of last 
December as showing the average weights of the skins, and therefore 
the ages of the seals that w^ere taken during the past season. Mr. 
Elliott in his statement places the number of what he terms "prime" 
skins — that is, 8 to 9 pound skins, or skins of seals from 3 to 4 years 
old — at only 64:6. He places the number of "short" skins, or 5i 
to 6 pound skins, or skins of seals 2 years old, at 1,500; and he places 
the number of "eye plasters," as he terms them, or 4i to 5 pound 
skins, the skins of yearling seals, at 13,034:. On the showino- made by 
these hgures he claims that a large portion of the 15,295 skins sold in 
December came from yearling seals, which if true would go to prove 
that most of the seals "taken by the company last season were of that 
class. ' 

Now. Mr. Chairman, I have gone to considerable trouble to make 
an analysis of these sales, and before doing so 1 took the precaution 
to obtain from the New York representatives of Messrs. C. M. Lamp- 
son & Co., the London auctioneers, a statement of the average weights 
for the past season of the various classes upon which Mr. Elliott bases 
his computations. I find that the class termed "large pups"— and, 
by the way, it is understood, of course, that in the trade classification 
of seal skins the term "pup" does not have the usual significance; it 



56 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

does not mean a pup in the sense in which the term is used on the 
islands. In trade usage it means a nnich older seal. I tind tiiat the 
class of skins termed *' large pups," of which there are 1,500, averaged 
in weight 7 pounds 5 ounces. Now, if that average weight is cor- 
rect — and I have no reason to doul)t it since it is a matter of trade 
information — the 1,500 seals which Mr. Elliott placed in the 2-year- 
old class should be transferred over to the '"'prime" column and added 
to the 646 skins of 3-year-old and -l-year-old seals. 

In other words, these records show a total of 2,146 seals above the 
age of 2 years, which you will immediately see controverts Mr. Elli- 
ott's contention that last season the company did not get any seals to 
speak of over the age of 2 years. 

Furthermore, I lind that the average weight of the class known as 
'• middling pups," of which there were 4,681, was 6 pounds 4 ounces, 
while the average weight of the class known as "small pups," of 
which there were 6,128, was 5 pounds 6 ounces. According to Mr. 
Elliott's classification, therefore, these two classes should be trans- 
ferred from his column designated "eye plasters or3"earling seals" to 
the column of "short" skins, or skins of seals that were, according to 
his own statement, 2 years old. By com])ining these two classes we 
have a total of 10,751) skins of seals that had reached the age of 2 years. 

Now, that leaves for the smallest class skins of 4t to 5 pounds onl}^ 
2,340, and consequently an entirely different aspect is given to the 
compilation he has made. A correct analj'sis of the London sales will 
show conclusively that under the regulations as enforced by our agents 
the great bulk of the skins taken last season were skins of so-called 
2-year-olds, the proportion of skins under that age being exceedingl}^ 
small. There is evidence, however, and plain evidence, too, that some 
very small skins were also taken. The figures do not show whether 
any of these were the skins of 3"earlings — that is, of seals onlv a year 
old; but the indications are that skins of seals under 2 years of age, 
according to the accepted classification by weights, were taken to 
some extent, but certainlv not in anvthing like tlie numbers claimed 
by Mr. Elliott. 

I felt that I wanted to y^lace these facts before the committee, Mr. 
Chairman, because Mr. Elliott has laid the principal stress of his 
argument on the supposition that the company was unable last season, 
owing to the depleted condition of the herd, to get more than a mere 
handful of seals over two years of age. From his analysis of the 
London sales he argues that the killable seals have been cut down, as 
he expresses it, to the ver}^ dregs. From my own analysis of these 
sales, based on what 1 believe to be the correct average weights. I can 
not admit the accuracy of Mr. Elliott's deductions. The average 
weights he has used are unquestionably too low, and consequentlv his 
argument on that basis as to the necessity for the radical measure pro- 
posed in this resolution is without proper foundation. 

I thank ^^ou for your attention. 

The Chairman. If there is nothing further, we will adjourn. 

Thereupon (at 3.20 o'clock p. m.) the committee adjourned. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



57 



APPENDIX. 

JOINT RESOLUTION UNDER CONSIDERATION. 

[H. J. Res. 124, Fifty-eighth Congress, second session.] 

JOINT RESOLUTION authorizing and directing the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to suspend at 
once and indefinitely the killing of fur seals on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska. 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in 
Congress assembled, That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor be, and he is hereby, 
authorized and directed to susjaend all killing of male fur seals on the Pribilof group 
of seal islands of Alaska by the lessees thereof, known as the North American Com- 
mercial Company. Said suspension of killing shall be made at once and indeiinitely: 
Provided, That the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may permit the annual killing, 
under his direction and supervision, to provide food for the natives of said islands, 
the number of three thousand five hundred young male seals on Saint Paul Island 
and two thousand on Saint George Island, the skins of which shall be carefully pre- 
served and sold by said Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The proceeds of said 
sale shall be covered into the Treasury of the United States. 

TABLES SUBMITTED BY MR. HITCHCOCK. 

Statement shovAng the number of breeding seah on the islands during each season from 1S99 
to 1903, inclusive, according to the counts made by the agents. 



Year. 


On St 


Paul. 


On St. George. a 


Total. 


Bulls. 


Cows. 


Bulls. 


Cows. 


Bulls. 


Cows. 


1899 


3,698 
3,433 
3,160 
2,381 
1,979 


72,082 
75, 152 
75, 565 
80,0.52 
82,649 


880 
877 
637 
456 
364 


17, 179 
17, 980 
14, 671 
14, 830 
14,647 


4,573 
4,310 
3,797 
2,837 
2,343 


89, 261 


1900 . 


93, 132 


1901 


90, 236 


1902 


94,882 


1903 


97, 296 







a Partly estimated. 



Statement showing the number of skins taken on the islands during the years 1899 to 1903, 

inclusive. « 





Number of skins taken— 


Year. 


On St. 
Paul. 


On St. 
George. 


Total. 


Ended Aug. 10— 

1899 


& 14, 648 
17, 159 
17, 445 
18, 930 
16,245 


2,535 
4,766 
5, 621 
3, 252 
3,092 


17, 183 


1900 


21, 925 


1901 


23, 066 


1902 


22, 182 


1903 


19,337 







a The statistics here given represent the number of skins taken during the several years to which 
they relate, and not the number of skins shipped during those years. As it is customary to hold over 
a portion of the skins from one year to another, the annual record of shipments varies .somewhat from 
that of skins taken. 

f> The record of skins taken on St. Paul during the year ended .August 10, 1899, was not given in 
the agent's report for that year, but the number here stated has been computed from the record of 
skins held over and shipped. 



58 



FITR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



Statement shoiving the number of seal nkiiDi taken on the northwest coast and in Bering Sea, 
III the Canadian sealing fleet and by Indians in canoes, during each year from 1897 to 
1903, inclusive. 



Year. 



Number of skins taken — 



Number |- 
of vessels 



By Canadian fleet. 



Canadian 
fleet.a 



North- 
west 
coast. 



Bering 

Sea. 



Total.& 



By 

Indians 



Grand 
total. 



1897 
1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 



5,082 
9,646 
10,471 
16,438 
7,265 
4,936 
3,865 



15, 607 
16, 943 
23,282 
17, 513 
10, 362 
5,193 
8,161 



20, 689 
26, 589 
33, 753 
33, 951 
17, 627 
10, 129 
12,026 



1,018 
1,100 

892 
1,364 
1, 268 
1, 343 

765 



21,707 
27, 689 
34, 645 
35, 315 
18,895 
11,472 
12, 791 



nin 1897 five vessels took tiieir entire catches from the Asiatic herd and seven vessels a portion of 
their catches. In 1898 and in 1899 one vessel took its entire catch from the Asiatic herd. In 1900 two 
vessels took a portion of their catches from the Asiatic herd. In 1901 eight vessels took their entire 
catches from the Asiatic herd and two vessels a portion of their catches. In 1902 ten vessels took 
their entire catches from the Asiatic herd and one vessel a portion of its catch. In 1903 one vessel 
took its entire catch from the Asiatic herd and five vessels a portion of their catches. Two vessels of 
the 1903 fleet, not included in the number mentioned, were sent to the South Atlantic. 

')The statistics here given do not include skins taken from the American herd by vessels sailing 
under flags other than the Canadian. The New York represcTitative of Messrs. Lampson & Co. 
reports on the basis of the London sales that the Japanese catch last season amounted to about 11,700 
skins, including skins taken from the American as well as the Asiatic herd. The Asiatic catch of the 
Canadian fleet last season, according to our consul at Victoria, amounted to 1,910 skins. As shown 
in the above table, the Canadian fleet took 12,026 skins from the American herd, to which should be 
added 765 skins taken by Indians in canoes, making a total of 12,791. According to the figures 
quoted, the entire pelagic catch last season in the North Pacific and Bering Sea by Japanese, Canadi- 
ans, and Indians did not reach 27,000 skins. In other words, the catch from "the American and 
Asiatic herds together was considerably less than the catch from the American herd alone several 
years ago. 

Statement shoiving the number of seal skins, male and female, taken on the noriJurest coast 
and in Bering Sea by the Canadian sealing fleet during each year from 1897 to 1903, 
inclusive. 





Number of skins taken. 


Year. 


Northwest coast. 


Bering Sea. 


Northwest coast 
and Bering Sea. 




Male. 


Female. 


Male. 


Female. 


Male. 


Female. 


1897 


2, 263 
4,093 
5, 384 
7,629 
3,379 
2,612 
2,163 


2,819 
5,553 
5,087 
8,809 
3,886 
2,324 
1,702 


6,549 
7,595 
9, 567 
7,175 
4,814 
2,470 
3,658 


9,058 
9,348 
13, 715 
10,338 
5,548 
2,723 
4,503 


8,812 
11,688 
14,951 
14,804 
8,193 
.5,082 
5, 821 


11 877 


1898 


14, 901 
18, 802 
19 147 


1899 


1900 


1901 


9,434 


1902 


5 047 


1903 


6, 205 









Statement showing the number of seals, male and female, taken by the Canadian fleet of 
the coast of Japan and in the vicinity of Copper Islands during each year from 1897 to 
1903, inclusive. 



Year. 


Off Japanese coast. 


Around Copper Islands. 


Entire Asiatic catch by 
Canadian fleet. 




Male. 


Female. 


Total. 


Male. 


Female. 


Total. 


Male. 


Female. 


Total. 


1897 

1898 

1899 


3,677 
201 


3,644 
159 


7,321 
360 


454 
20 

210 

134 
1,472 

817 
1 072 


928 
30 

489 

74 

1,925 

523 

83S 


1,382 

50 

699 

208 

3,397 

1,340 

1,910 


4,131 

221 

210 

134 

2,782 

2,347 

1,072 


4, 572 

189 

489 

74 

2, 745 

2, 324 

838 


8,703 
410 
699 


1900 








208 


1901 

1902 

1903 


1,310 , 820 
1,530 1,801 


2, 130 
3,331 


5, 527 
4,671 
1 910 














FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



59 



Statement showing the number and average iveight of Alaskan sealskins sold by Messrs C. M. 
Lampson & Co., London, at the sales in December, 1903. 



Classification. 



Middlings and small 

Middlings 

Smalls 

Large pups 

Middling pups 

Small pups 

Ex-small pups 

Ex-ex-small pups . . . 
Faulty 

Total 



Number of 


Average 


skins. 


weight. 




Lbs. ozs. 


69 


(«) 


3 


11 11 


6 574 


8 11 


(•1,500 


7 5 


rt4,631 


6 4 


e 6, 128 


5 6 


f 2,212 


4 11 


68 


4 2 


50 


w 


ft 15, 295 





nSee average weights of "middlings" and of "smalls," respectively. 
6 Includes 70 unhaired and dro.s.«ed. 
c Includes 80 unhaired and dressed. 

d Includes 90 unhaired and dressed and 90 dressed and dyed. 
e Includes 200 unhaired and dressed. 
/Includes 110 unhaired and dressed. 
g Average weight not reported. 

fe These figures do not repre.sent the entire stock. The remaining skins were held over to be sold 
later. 

EXHIBITS, ETC., SUBMITTED BY ME. ELLIOTT. 

Exhibit A. 

[Memorandum prepared for Ways and Means Committee, by Henry W. Elliott, March 10, 1904.] 

A tabidated statement of the items of cost and gain, showing the profits of tlie business of the 

pelagic hunter. 

The Jordan-Thompson "joint agreement," in 1897, declared a number of direct 
denials of the truth as to the status of the fur-seal herd of Alaska and the business of 
the human land and sea killers of the same. 

Touching the pelagic hunter, this agreement declared that his business had ceased 
to be profitable, and that he was going out of it faster than the herd declined in 
numbers; so that an equilibrium had been reached and was maintained then and 
would be in the future whereby the herd would not diminish much nor would it 
increase; but it was perfectly safe from extermination, even though it had ceased to 
be commercially valuable. (See items 15 and 16 of "joint agreement;" see p. 47, 
"Treasurv Document No. 1994: Office of Secretary." Government Printing Office, 
1898. ) 

The utter error of this agreement is shown by the record of the pelagic hunters' 
work, to Avit: 



Year. 


Skins 
taken. 


Price re- 
ceived 
(each). 


1897 


24,332 
28, .552 
34, 168 
35, 115 
24, 0.50 
22, 812 
27,000 


$8.50 


1898 


8. .50 


1899 


10.25 


1900 


16.00 


1901 


15. 25 


190'> 


19.00 


1903 


17.00 







From the above table of indisputable figures it is seen at once that the pelagic 
hunter has been making an enormous profit out of the business since Doctor Jordan 
declared him bankrupt and going out of business November 17, 1897. The cost to 
the hunter in 1897 of each skin taken was not to exceed |4.50 laid down in London. 
It has not varied much since. « 

In 1901, when the Canadian hunter found his catch falling off heavily, he bethought 
himself of the "Japanese masquerade," whereby ten ortwelveof hisvessels are enabled 
to hunt all the year round, and thus nullify what little restraint the Bering Sea 



« See supplemental details of cost, following. 



60 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

rules and regulations impose upon him. So, in si)ito of the speedy decline annually 
of the herd, he is enabled to apparently find more seals to-day than he did three 
years ago. 

VICTORIA SEALERS. 

The Victoria Sealing Company, of Victoria, British Columbia, has declared a divi- 
dend of 50 cents a share on the business of the jiast year. The sealing fleet of the 
British Columbia coast this season will comprise about twenty vessels; schooners 
wdll also be sent as usual to Japanese waters. ( Fur Trade Review, New York, p. 85, 
February 1, 1904.) 

This combination of the business of the pelagic fur-sealing fleet, known as the 
Victoria Sealing Company (Limited), of Victoria, V. I., was made in 1898; it was 
done primarily in 1897, as the Victoria Sealers' A.ssociation, with the Hudson Bay 
Company and R. P. Ritliet & Co., of Victoria, as the trustees. 

The suggestion having been made by Doctor Jordan and C. S. Hamlin in the fall 
of 1896 (the former, commissioner in charge of fur-seal investigations, and the other 
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury) that the Government would buy out the Cana- 
dian fleet, in settlement of the pelagic hunting problem, these hunters got together. 

They appraised their vessels and lumped the sum, so that it aggregated iiearly 
$700,000, and then prepared to deal with the question as an association duly organ- 
ized, etc. 

When the Joint High Commission came into the field this association was all ready 
for business, and it actually got a subcommittee of our representatives, Messrs. Fair- 
banks and Foster, to agree upon the payment to them of a lump sum of $500,000 for 
their fleet of some thirty small schooners and paraphernalia; but when it came to 
selling the rights of a British subject to seal or fish in the open waters of Bering Sea, 
or the North Pacific, Sir Wilfrid said they could not be sold. That a right in turn of 
ours must be conceded; a free port on Lynn Canal, or some tariff concession. 

That at once ended the negotiations and the Canadians have not changed their 
attitude since. 

The Victoria Sealing Company (Limited), of Victoria, to-day controls every vessel 
and every pelagic hunter engaged in the business of fur sealing at sea; every hunter, 
white or Indian, that kills Alaskan seals at sea is under the orders of this company, 
and obeys them. 

The twenty-three or twenty-four schooners which comprise its fleet are those which 
are actually engaged; but the whole number of vessels which are in its control is 
between thirty-five and forty. 

This sealing- company is capitalized at $500,000, and the full amount of stock to 
that sum is issued in shares of $1 each; it covers all the vessels and paraphernalia, 
which, in turn, were inventoried and valued in 1900 as follows (Report Minister 
Marine and Fisheries, 1900, Canada, p. 203): 

35 vessels $207, 645 

102 hunting boats, dories, skiffs, etc 10, 200 

336 hunting canoes 8, 150 

Total value 225, 995 

(P. 203, Sessional Papers, vol. xxxlv, No. 9, 1900, 63 Victoria, A, 1900; Sessional 
Paper, No. 11a.) 

The above official valuation of the fleet is very liberal, and the amount given is 
certainly well above the actual capital invested. 

Therefore a dividend of 50 cents per share, or of $250,000 declared and paid on the 
stock of the Victoria Sealing Company, as the profits of its season's work in 1903, is 
an enormous and lucrative return to the stockholders. 

The pelagic catch of Alaskan fur seals in 1903 was 27,000 skins. These skins sold • 
in London at an average per skin of $17. The average cost of each skin from hunter 
to London sale (including the extra cost of the "Japanese Canadian" masquerade) 
is not to exceed $7 per skin; this would leave the net profit at least $270,000 for the 
season's work of 1903. It is quite as likely that it was at least $300,000, because, 
without the increased "Japanese" expense, the average cost of the skins woilld not 
go over $5 each, about $4.50 to $5 each. 

On Bering Sea. — In 1903 not more than 23 or 24 vessels were employed actively. 
On them were some 213 white sailors and hunters, 607 Indian hunters, 200 (?) Jap- 
anese sailors and hunters. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 61 

The same fleet worked on the herd while it traveled up the northwest coast into 
Bering Sea between February 1 to July 10, 1903. 

Skins. 

The northwest coast catch was about 7, 000 

The Bering Sea catch was about '. 20, 000 

Total catch 1903 27, 000 

Item.^ of expense and profit for the Canadian pelagic hunters^ season of 1902, notv entirely 
combined and controlled by a trust in Victoria, V. I. 

(1) The ^^ictorian fur-sealing schooner usuallj' registers between 60 and 70 tons; 
its cost of construction is about $5,000 — some cost as much as $7,500, and others as 
little as $3,500. This cost covers sails, rigging, and everything needful for the 
season's cruise except stores, ammunition, and salt. 

(2) The stores, consisting of dried salmon, salt codfish, bacon,' flour, beans, coffee, 
etc., for a fur-sealing cruise of six months on this vessel will cost about $1,000, and 
they are sufficient for a crew of one captain or master, one mate, one cook, two or 
three white seamen and hunters, and 20 to 2-4 Indian hunters, which is the usual crew 
now shipped to each vessel engaged. Sometimes a supercargo goes along. 

(3) The pay of the captain is from $60 to $75 per month, with a "lay" or com- 
mission on the catch, skin by skin; the mate and cook the same per month, but a 
smaller "lay;" the white seamen or hunters are paid $40 per month and $2 for each 
skin they bring in. 

(4) The Indian hunters receive $1.50 to $2.50 for each skin they bring in. When 
the weather is unusually "nasty" and the "seal signs" good, this bonus per skin is 
raised to $3, with a ration of grog to every hunter. 

(5) During the season of 1902, 23 of these Victorian schooners were in the North 
Pacific and Bering Sea busily engaged, some of them flying the Japanese flag; this 
under American or Canadian officers. This arrangement and masquerade enables 
the fleet to hunt throughout the entire season from February 1 to October 15 annually, 
and nullifies what little good is in the Bering Sea rules and regulations of the Paris 
award. 

(6) During the season of 1902 this fleet of 23 sealing schooners secured 22,812 
skins, which were sold December 1 7, 1902, in London as " N. W. coast ' ' or Alaskan fur- 
seal skins, at an average price of nearly $20 per skin, being an advance of 35 percent 
over the high prices of December 17, 1901, for the pelagic "N. W. coast" skins of 
that season. 

With the above items of cost and amount of catch in view, the following recapitu- 
lation will show the profits of the season's work in 1902 for the pelagic, hunter: 

RECAPITULATION. 

Profits of the pelagic hunter $263, 970 

Cr. 

Pelagic catch, season of 1902, of Pribilof fur-seal skins in North Pacific 

and Bearing Sea was 22, 812 

Number of vessels actually engaged in taking this catch was 23 

22,812 skins sold December 17 in London, at an average price of $19.50 

each .• $445, 034 

Dr. 

Cost of outfitting 23 vessels, at $1,000 each $23, 000 

Salaries, master, mate, cook, and white seamen, per vessel, at $1,380 each 

for a 6-months cruise (13 vessels) 17, 940 

Cost of 22,812 skins at an average of $2 per skin paid to the Indian hunters. 45, 624 

Freight, casks, packing, Victoria to London 3, 000 

Insurance, Victoria to London 5, 000 

Brokerage, London sales, and expenses attendant 15, 000 

Interest, at 10 per cent, on $115,000, capital invested in fleet of 23 vessels.. 11, 500 

Total cost of the season's work of 1902 in securing 22,812 skins is 121, 064 

Or thus declares a profit of $323,970 for the pelagic hunter's work in 1902. 
F s— 04 5 



62 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

This profit of $5323,970, divided equally among the Canadian vessels engaged, gives 
each one an average catch of 990 ^;kins and a net gain of $14,086 to each scliooner, 
over all expenses. 

Note. — But from this must be <leducted the cost of the "Japanese" masquerade. 
How many of these "Japanese" vessels were engaged in helping the 23 Canadian 
vessels above itemized in getting the sum total of 22,812 skins we can not ascertain 
at this hour. It is safe to assume that not less than six or seven such vessels were so 
employed in 1902. The cost of their work to the Victorian combine which orders 
this business and controls it, can not have been less than $60,000. This sum, deducted 
from the $323,970 above specified, gives beyond all question a net gain of $263,970 to 
the pelagic hunting l)usiness at Victoria for the season of 1902. 

The Canadian minister of marine and fisheries made the following official valuation 
of the pelagic fur-sealing fleet of Victoria, British Columbia: 

[Report for 1900, p. 203, Vol. XXXIV, No. 9, 1900, 63 Victoria, A, 1900; sessional paper Xo. Ha.] 

Season of 1898: 

Vessels employed in fur sealing, 35; value $207, 645 

Boats employed in fur sealing, 102; value 10, 200 

Canoes employed in fur sealing, 326; value 8, 150 

Total 225, 995 

White sailors and hunters in fleet 324 

Indian hunters in fleet 656 

[Report for 1901, p. 165, Vol. XXXV, No. 9, 1901, 64 Victoria, A, 1901; sessional paper No. 22.] 

Season of 1899: 

Vessels actually employed in fur sealing, 26; value $84, 500 

Boats actually employed in fur sealing, 68; value 6, 800 

Canoes actually employed in fur sealing, 285; value 14, 250 

Total 105, 550 

White sailors and hunters in fleet 213 

Indian hunters in fleet 607 



EXHIBT B. 

[Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee, prepared by Henry W. Elliott, March 10, 1904.] 

THE RUSSIAN PERIOD OF GREAT DI.MINUTION OF THE PRIBILOF FUR-SEAL HERD, 1834-1844. 

I bring this period in to show that the present loss of life on the fur-seal rookeries 
of the seal islands of Alaska is not the first experience of the kind which has been 
recorded by white men, or, rather, since this life came into the supervision and con- 
trol of white men, in 1786-87; prior to that date these breeding grounds had been 
undiscovered by either savage or civilized men. 

Away back as far as 1820 the Russians themselves recognized the fact that they 
were culling the herds too closely— that they were ruining the business by the land 
killing of all the choice males — they knew that they alone on the islands were to 
blame, because no such thing as hunting fur seals in the water by white men then 
was dreamed of, much less done. 

In 1818, and after a period of over ten consecutive years of active driving and 
culling out of all the largest and very finest young- male seals that could annually be 
secured, the board of directors at St. Petersburg of the Russian-American Company 
were informed by their agent at Sitka that the supply of these large young male 
seals had been practically exhausted, and that a smaller grade of skins must be taken 
or none at all. A trusted associate of the board, General Yanoosky, was sent out by 
them to go to the Pribilof Islands and investigate and report to them what the exact 
status of the herd was. This gentleman did so. He arrived on St. Paul Island in 
the spring of 1819 and remained there during the whole season, until late in Novem- 
ber, when he departed and went doAvn to Sitka, where, on the 25th of February, 1820, 
he finished and forwarded to the board at St. Petersburg his report. A brief of it is 



FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 63 

given in the papers of the old Russian company and was produced in the counter 

case of Great Britain, at Paris, as follows: 

No. 6. — From the laoard of administration of the Russian-American Company, under 

the protection of His Imperial Majesty, to Capt. Matvei Ivanovitch Muravief, etc., 

chief manager of the Russian-American Colonies. 

(No. 175.) 

In his Report No. 41, of the 25th February, 1820, Mr. Yanovsky, in giving an 
account of his inspection of the operations on the islands of St. Paul and St. George, 
observes that every year the young bachelor seals are killed and that only the cows, 
"sekatch," and half "sekatch" are left to projmgate the species. It follows that 
only the old seals are left, while if any of the bachelors remain alive in the autumn 
they are sure to be killed the next spring. The consequeni-e is that the number of 
seals obtained diminishes every year, and it is certain that the species will in time 
become extinct. 

This view is confirmed by experience. In order to prevent the extinction of the 
seals it would be well to stop the killing altogether for one season and to give orders 
that not more than 40,000 are ever to be killed in any one year on the island of St. 
Paul or more than 10,000 in any one year on the island of St. George. 

Mr. Yanovsky considers that if these measures are adopted the number of seals 
will never diminish. The board of administration, although they concur in Mr. 
Yanovsky's view, have decided not to adopt the measures proposed by him unless it 
is found that there is no migration of seals to the two small islands which are 
believed to exist to the south and north of the chain of islands. * * * 

The board would be glad if, when you next go to the islands, you would suggest 
any measures which you think would tend to improve the fur-seal industry. Should 
it, however, be impossible for you to visit the islands at present, you will lose no 
time in giving orders for the rules laid down by this board to be applied forthwith. 

Michael Kisselef, 
Venedict Cramer. 
Andrei Severin. 
Zelensky, Chief Clerk. 

March 15, 1821. 

Here is this evil of overdriving and culling the herd presented and defined fifty 
years before I saw it, and nearly seventy years before Jordan denies its existence in 
1898. Think of it! We have sent two investigating commissions since 1890 up to 
our ruined fur-seal preserves on the Pribilof Islands — one in 1891 and the other in 
1896-97— and yet, in spite of this plain Russian record and my detailed and unan- 
swerable indictment of that particular abuse in 1890, these commissioners blindly 
and stupidly deny it. They attempt to set aside the Russian record by saying that 
the Russians then killed females as well as males and drove them up to the shambles 
in equal numbers. 

The Russians did nothing of the sort. They began the season early in June by 
driving from the hauling grounds, precisely as we do to-day, and continued so to 
drive all through the rest of the season. They never went upon the rookeries and 
drove off the females; they never have done so since 1799. How, then, did the 
females get into their drives? 

The females fell into these drives of the Russians because that work was protracted 
through the whole season — from June 1 to December 1. In this way the drivers 
picked up many cows after August 1-10 to the end of November following, since 
some of these animals during that period leave their places on the breeding grounds 
and scatter out over large sections of the adjacent hauling grounds, so as to get mixed 
in here and there with the j'oung males. Thus the Russians in driving across the 
flanks of the breeding grounds, going from the hauling grounds, during every 
August, September, October, and November, would sweep up into their drives a 
certain proportion of female seals which are then scattered out from the rookery 
organization and are ranging at will over those sections of the hauling grounds driven 
from. What that proportion of this female life so driven was in Russian time no 
man to-day can precisely determine. From the best analysis I can make of it, I 
should say that the Russian female catch in their drives never exceeded 20 per cent 
of the total number driven at any time, and such times were rare, and that it ranged 
as low as 5 per cent of female life up to the end of August annually. 

Now, what does Jordan say to-day about this work which the Russians condemned 
seventy years ago and I in 1890? 

"As land killing has always been confined to the males, and as its operations are 
to-day what they have been since the herd came into the American control, except 



64 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

in so far as thej' have been improved, this means that land killing is not and has not 
been a factor in the decline of the herd." 

The Russian records show that from 1817 down to 18.'U the supply of choice young 
male seals was constantly growinji' less and less as each year followed the other; they 
show that no such method of killing these seals at sea, now so well known to us as 
"pelagic sealing," was known to white men or practiced by them, or by the Alaskan 
natives, during the entire j)eriod of Russian ownershiii and control, ending in 1867; 
they show that this remarka])le shrinkage of the herd from 1817 down to 1834 was 
due entirely to overdriving and culling of young male seals; they show that fourteen 
years before the utter collapse of the herd took place this result of ruin was announced 
by an official investigator, who urged, in 1820, that steps be taken then to avert the dis- 
aster, and they show that in spite of this clear note of warning and remonstrance the 
greed and the avarice of a Russian board of directors overruled Yanovsky's appeal; 
then they show that the end was reached in 1834, just as he had predicted under date 
of February 25, 1820, saying: 

* * * "that every year the young bachelor seals are killed, and that only the 
cows, 'seecatchie' and 'polseecatchie' are left to propagate the species. It follows 
that only the old seals are left, while if any of the bachelors are left alive in the 
autumn they are sure to be killed next spring. The consequence is that the number 
of seals obtained diminishes every year, and it is certain that the species will in 
time become extinct." * * * 

Then he asks that the killing be stopped altogether in 1821; and then, when 
resumed in 1822, that onlv 40,000 be killed, etc. (Proc. Tribunal of Arbitration 
Bering Sea, vol. 8, pp. 323-325, No. 6, 1893. ) 

To this warning and remonstrance against overdriving and killing young male seals 
on the Pribilof Islands in 1820 the Russian board of directors from St. Petersburg, 
under date of March 15, 1821, made the following reply and denial: "That although 
they concur in Mr. Yanorsky's view they have decided not to adopt the measures 
proposed by him," etc. 

What was the result? 

The entire disappearance of the killable young male life occurred on the islands 
in 1834. Then came the long rest of ten years on these rookeries before killing to 
any noteworthy extent of young males was or could be resumed. 

In 1834 the Russian records show that just 100 "halluschickie" were taken — all 
that could be secured on St. Paul Island "safely" — "leaving in 1835 for breeding 
8,118 fresh voung seals, males and females together." (Veniaminov: Zapieskie, etc.. 
Vol. II, p. 568 et seq., 1842.) 

Here is the authentic record made by an unusually intelligent and personally well- 
informed man, written in 1837, that less than 9,000 seals that were "fresh and 
young" were left alive on St. Paul Island in 1835 — reduced to this feeble renuiant 
entirely by excessive killing on the island of young male seals; yet we have had two 
commissions of our "experts" and scientists visit those rookeries, in 1891 and in 
1896-97, only to return and stupidly deny this record, and charge every harm to that 
herd upon the pelagic sealer and his work since 1886. 

Bishop Veniaminov's count of 8,118 seals left on the St. Paul grounds in 1835 was 
an authentic one, made by the "Bidarshik" Kazean Shaieshnikov, who was the head- 
man and in charge of the island; he also was the man who entertained Yanovsky 
in 1819 during the whole of that season, while his investigation was being made 
then, and which resulted in Yanovsky's warning report, which is quoted above. 

This unquestioned record of the Russians is of the greatest interest to us at this 
hour, because it shows the recuperative powers of the fur-seal herd. Here in 1835 
we have but 8,118 young seals left out of millions that existed on the same ground 
in 1790-1800. In 1857 the Russian records declare that this remnant of 1835 had so 
multiplied that it overflowed on the breeding grounds way up to and even beyond 
the utmost limit it had ever occupied in the days of its finest form and number when 
first discovered by man; and that no further concern as to the number taken annually 
need bother the board of directors. 

The gentlemen of this committee will, in the light of that record, easily understand 
how safe it is for us to put the pelagic sealer out of business by killing off these 
100,000 female seals now existing down to a residuum of 10,000 or 15,000, and then 
still have in reserve sufficient power to restore the herd, ample in every respect. 

The Russian record of diminution to the point of complete collapse begins in 1817, 
and is given to us by Bishop Veniaminov, who himself spent the season of 1825 on 
the islands, and who had free access to all the records of the Russian-American Com- 
pany. He closed this record in 1837 and its continuation, quoted below, is taken 
from the record made by Kazean Shaiesnikov, who lived on St. Paul Island during 
the time covered by it. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



65 



Eussian record of diminution, 1817-1834. 
[Table I, part 2.— Veniaminov's Zapieska, etc., St. Petersburg, 1842.] 





Seals taken from— 




Year. 


St. Paul 
Island. 


St. George 
Island. 


Total. 


1817 


47, 860 
45, 932 
40, 300 
39, 700 
35, 750 
28, 150 
24, 100 
19, 850 
24,600 
23, 250 
17,750 
18, 450 
17, 150 
15, 200 
12, 950 
13, 150 
13, 200 
12, 700 
n 4, 052 
a 4, 040 
a 4, 220 


12, 328 
13, 924 
11,925 
10, .520 
9,245 
8, 319 
5, 773 
5, 550 
5, 500 


60, 188 
59, 856 
52,225 
.50,220 
44 995 


1818 


1819 , 


1820 


1821 


1822 


36, 469 


1823 ... 


29, 873 
25,400 
30, 100 


1824 


1825 


1826 


23,250 
19,700 
23, 228 
20,811 
18, 034 


1827 


1, 9.50 

4,778 
3, 661 
2, 834 
3, 084 
3, 296 
3,212 
3, 051 
2,528 
2,550 
2,582 


1828 


1829 


1830 


1831 


16 034 


1832 


16,446 
16,412 
15, 751 


1833 


1834 


1835 


6,580 




6,590 
6,802 


1837 






Total 


464, 259 


114, 665 


578, 924 







a Only 100 yearlings and 8,952 "pups" (5 months old) In this total; same for 1836 and 1837. 



Exhibit C. 
[Initial memorandum for Ways and Means Committee, by Henry W. Elliott, March 9, 1904.] 

The official record shotving the loss of life on the seal islands of Alaska, from 1872 down to 

1903, inclusive. 




1872-1874 
1890 
1891 
1896 

1897 



1900 



The Surveys of Elliott and Maynard (act approved Apr. 22, 1874) 

The Survey of Elliott (act approved Apr. 5, 1890) 

The Canadian-American joint commission survey (about) 

The Jordan-Thompson joint commission survey (p. 22 of Jordan's Prelimi- 
nary Report, Treasury Dept. Doc. No. 1931) ." 

The Jordan-Thompson joint commission survey declares that the rookeries 
on which the pups were counted show a reduction of 14.4 per cent (i.e., 
14.4 per cent fewer seals than in 1896) — p. 16 of Jordan's Second Preliminary 
Report (Treasury Dept. Doc. No. 1994); this gives us 

Report Secretary of the Treasury, p. xxxiv, Dec. 6, 1898: "The conditions of 
the rookeries show a most apparent decrease in the number of seals fre- 
quenting the islands." No estimate of percentage of loss is made, but it 
can not be "most apparent" imle.ss that loss of life is at least 12 per cent of 
the figures agreed upon in 1897, or 

Report Secretai-y of the Treasury, p. xxxi, Dec. 5, 1899: "The condition on 
the rookeries shows a continued decline in the herd." (The agent in 
charge reports "a decline of 20 per cent" from the figures of 1898. Report 
Secretary of the Treasury, p. xxxii, Dec. 4, 1900.) This gives us 

Report Secretary of the Treasury, p. xxxii, Dec. 4, 1900: " The agent in charge 
reports that the seal life on the islands in 1899 was 20 per cent less than 
in 1898 * * * . The rookeries were examined last season by an agent of 
the Fish Commission. He reports a decrease in the seal life on the rookeries, 
as compared with former years. * * * Smallerseals were taken this year 
than ever before." Report U. S. Fish Commission, 1900, p. 165: " * "* * 
The seals have been diminishing upon the breeding grounds for many years, 
the annual decrease during the past few years amounting to about 20 per 
cent." This testimony reduces the herd in 1900 to 

Report Secretary of the Treasury, p. 38. Dec. 2, 1901: "The enumeration of 
live pups shows a marked falling off from the previous years." A "marked 
falling off" in the number of pups would not be noticed as such unless the 
percentage of loss was at least 12 per cent, or 



4,500,000 
1,059,000 
1,000,000 

440,000 



376, 640 



331,000 



264, 962 



204, 887 



66 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



The official record showing the losa of life in the Keal islands of Alaska, from 1812 doiim to 
1903, iticlasive — Continued. 



Year. 



Authoritv. 



Number of 
fur seals 
(males, fe- 
males, and 
young) . 



1902 



Report Secretary of the Treasury, p. 30, Dec. 3, 1902: No mention or hint of 
any decrease in the herd in this report; but a set of erroneous figures is 
given for the pelagic catch of the year— only one-third of this catch is 
announced. Upon this false return of that catch is based here an allega- 
tion that the pelagic hiuitcr is retiring from business, and that this retire- 
ment puts "tbc herd in a more stable condition," and that "it is not 
decreasing now as rapidly as heretofore." Also no reference is made of the 
new ".Japanese" scaling Hect which j(iine<l tlie Canadian Heet this season, 
and has been busy all amnud the inlands inside of the "60-mile zone." No 
reference is made to this new power for destruction, although the Depart- 
ment on Sept. 25, 1902, received an official report declaring that "about 16" 
of these vessels were .so engaged during the season of lyuj. Therefore, 
since the same forces for destruction which have been at wurk on the lierd 
since 1896 have again this season been all actively employed, with the addi- 
tion of the "16 Japanese" vessels, it is only reasonable for us to declare a 
reduction of at least 12 per cent from the number allowed for 1901, and this 

gives us at the close of the season of 1902 not to exceed 

Also in this report of the Treasury Department for 1902 is omitted the state- 
ment of the special agent in charge of the islands in the report for this year, 
received at the Department Aug. 25, 1902, that "a careful count of harems 
made this year shows a falling off of 25 per cent of breeding bulls." The 
reason why "this important fact is omitted is evident to any intelligent reader; 
it would utterly deny the Secretary's assertion that "the herd is in a more 
stable condition." It is therefore suppressed. 

The Government agent declares to his chief in the Department of Commerce 
and Labor, Dec. 17, 1903, that at the close of the season of 1903, Aug. 1, the 
whole number of fur seals alive then on the Pribilof Islands was not to 
exceed 



180, 000 



1.50, 000 



RECAPITULATION. 



The foregoing official record of the rate and ratio of progress of the decline of the 
fur-seal herd of Alaska shows, concisely, that there were in — 

Pribilof fur seals, 
d, 9, audO- 

1872-1874 4, 500, 000 

1890 1 , 059, 000 

1891 1, 000, 000 

1896 440, 000 

1897 376, 640 

1898 331 , 000 

1899 264, 000 

1900 233, 000 

1901 204, 000 

1902 180, 000 

1903 150, 000 

Also, a census of the fur-seal cows, alone, has been officially recorded since 1896, as 
follows: On the Pribilof Islands — 

In 1896 there were 157,405 fur-seal cows. (Jordan's Report, 1896.) 

In 1897 there were 134,582 fur-seal cows. (Jordan's Report, 1897.) 

In 1900 there were 100,000 fur-seal cows. (United States Fish Commissioner's 
Report, 1900.) 

In 1901 there were 91,236 fur-seal cows. (Special Agent Treasury Department 
Report, 1901.) 

In 1902 there were 94,882 « fur-seal cows. (Special Agent Treasury Department 
Report, 1902.) 

In 1903 there were 95,000 fur-seal cows. (Special Agent Treasury Department 
Report, 1903.) 

"This increase of some 5 per cent in the cows of 1902 over the cows of 1901 is a 
self-evident blunder. It is due to tlie increased massing of the cows around the 
rapidly disappearing bulls. The bulls fell off in number, "25 per cent" in 1902, from 
their figures of 1901. That caused an increased number of females or cows to appear 
around the surviving bulls of that year, while in fact the whole number of females 
was at least 12 to 15 per cent less. 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



67 



This also applies to the cow census of 1903. A decline of "17 per cent in the num- 
ber of breeding bulls" takes place this year according to the report of the Govern- 
ment agent. 



Findings of fact contrasted as to the diminution of the acreage of the breeding grounds of 
the fur seal on the Pribilof Islands, Bering Sea, Alaska, as determined and established 
by the biological surveys of 1872-1874, 1890, and 1903. . 

[Then observe the remarkable record of the work ni getting skins made in 1903 when contrasted with 
that of 1872 in the tables following, taken from the London sale catalogues.] 



Island. 


Rookery or breeding ground of fur seals. 


1872-1874. 


1890. 


1903. 


St. Paul 


The Reef rookery 


Acres. 
14 

?! 

lOi 

u 

8 
14 

i 


Acrea. 
6i 
4 

3i 

64 
10 


i 

i 
i 

5 


Acres. 

(?) 
(?) 


Do 


The Gorbatch rookery 


Do 


The Lagoon rookery . . 


(?) 
(?) 


Do 


The Tolstoi rookery 


Do 


The Upper and Lower Zapadnie rook- 
eries. 


r?\ 


Do 


(?) 
(?) 
(?) 
(?) 


Do 


The Lukannon rookerv 


Do 


The Big and Little Polavina rookeries. 


Do 


Do 


The Nah Speel rookerv 


(?) 
(?) 






Do 


The Starrv Arteel rookerv 


(?) 


Do 




(?) 


Do. . 




n 


Do 


The Great Eastern rookery 


(?) 




Total acreage 




147J 


44g 


(?) 







Note. — The survey of 1890, made under authority of act of Congress, approved April 5, and pub- 
lished as House Document No. 175, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session. 



Exhibit D. 

The official proof of the killing of yearling seals on the Pribilof Islands by the lessees thereof 

in violation of latv. 

[Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee, by Henry W. Elliott, March 9, 1904.] 

THE OFFICIAL DENIAL OF THE KILLING OF YEARLING MALE SEALS BY THE LESSEES ON 
THE SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA, PRIBILOF GROUP. 

1903, Report of Special Treasury Agent Lembkey, in charge of the seal islands, to 
Secretary of Department of Commerce and Labor for the season of 1903: "There was a 
lack of 2-year-olds in particular noted during the height of the killing season. Why 
this was the case is problematical, but it is not due to land killing in the preceding 
year. This is easily demonstrated when it is known that these seals were yearlings 
in 1902 and that yearlings were not and have never been killed for skins." (Fur 
Trade Review, New York, December, 1903, p. 649.) 



THE OFFICIAL PROOF OF THE KILLING OF YEARLING MALE SEALS BY THE LESSEES ON 
THE SLAUGHTERING GROUNDS OF THE SEAL ISLANDS AS EARLY AS THE SEASON OF 
1900. 

1901, Report of Special Treasury Agent Lembkey, in charge of the seal islands, 
August, 1901, to Secretary of Treasury: "The lessees during the season (1901) took 
skins ranging from a maximum of 10 pounds to a minimum of 5 pounds. Previous 
to 1900 the lowest limit of weight was 6 pounds, but a 5-pound liuiit was established 
that year, and during the past season (1901) as many 5-pound skins as could be found 
were taken." « (See Fur Trade Review, New York, Sejitember 1, 1901, p. 452.) 

This official khew what he was saying in 1901, because the following classification 
of skins was published on the islands in 1872-1874, and accepted as the standard units 

«Here we have the official truth in 1901 by Agent Lembkey of the official untruth 
uttered by Agent Lembkey in 1903, taken from his own mouth; what the object of 
this officer is, who denies in 1903 what he affirms in 1901, is not manifest (perhaps 
it is without point on his part — just ignorance). 



68 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

of weight and age of skins by all partien concerned, Government officers, lessees, and 
natives, and it has been the rule ever since; it was published and i)osted on the seal 
islands in 1872: 

A "42-pouudskin" is the hide of an average yearling; a "5-pound skin" is the hide 
of a well-grown yearling. These are "eye-plasters." 

A "B-pound skin" is the hide of an average 2-year-old; a "62-pound skin" is the 
hide of a well-grown 2-year-old. These are "short" skins. 

All "7 to8 pound skins" are the hides of 3-year-olds; all "9 toll pound skins" are 
the hides of 4-year-oIds. These are "prime" and extra fine skins. 



Exhibit E. 

[Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee, by Henry W. Elliott, March 9, 1904.] 

In re the excessive kill'mg 0/ male seals on the seal islands, Bering Sea, Alaska — The ojficicd 
denial of the official assertion that "there is alirai/s a sufficiency of males reserved for 
breeding purposes. ' ' 

THE ASSERTION. 

1897, Report Secretary of the Treasury, December 6, 1897, p. xxviii: "From the 
report of the agent in charge of the islands, just received, covering the season just 
closed, it would ai:>pear by even the most strenuous efforts and an unusual number of 
drives the maximum number of 25,000 skins could not be obtained, and that but 
20,822 skins were secured. * * * The excess of full-grown and vigorous bulls 
present there is so considerable as to interfere materially with the process of breed- 
ing. To remedy this evil the agent recommends the killing of a number of surplus 
bulls." 

1899, Report Secretary of the Treasury, Decembers, 1899, p. xxxii: "Male seals 
only have been killed on the islands during many years past, and there is always a 
sufficiency of males reserved for breeding purposes." 

THE DENIAL OF THE ASSERTION, AS ABOVE QUOTED. 

1902. Report Special Treasury Agent Lembkey for season of 1902: "A careful 
count of harems made this year shows a falling off of 25 per cent of breeding bulls." 

1903. Report Special Treasury Agent Lemljkey for season of 1903: "A count of 
all of the harems on the islands showed 1,979 harems in 1903 as against 2,391 in 1902. 
This represents a decrease of 17 per cent in the number of breeding bulls present." 

Note. — If there was "a sufficiency of breeding bulls reserved," those vacancies on 
the breeding grounds would not occur. They would be naturally and instantly filled. 
Comment is unnecessary; the truth is apparent; the land killing has been ruinous 
to the life, and is so. 

FACTS AND FIGURES WHICH DECLARE THAT UNDER EXISTING RULES AND REGULATIONS 
the MALE PUR-SEAL LIFE ON THE SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA WILL BECOME EXTINCT 
BY 1907. 

1. In 1872-1874 there were alwut 90,000 breeding bulls and 1,250,000 cows (primi- 
pares, multipares, and nubiles) on the rookeries, thus showing an annual birth rate 
of 1,120,000 pups. 

2. In 1890 this herd was reduced to some 14,000 bulls and 420,000 cows (primipares, 
multipares, and nubiles) on the rookeries, thus showing a decreased birth rate of 
380,000 pups. 

3. In 1896 this herd was still further reduced to 5,000 bulls and 144,000 cows 
(primipares, multipares, and nubiles) on the rookeries, thus showing a further 
decreased birth rate of 130,000 pups. 

4. In 1903 this herd is now reduced to some 2,200 old bulls and 75,000 cows (primi- 
pares, multipares, and nubiles) on the rookeries, thus showing a birth rate of only 
68,000 pups. 

The.'-e 2,200 old bulls of 1903 are the survivors of those young males which were 
spared in 1890, and by the modus vivendi of 1891-1893, and thus permitted to grow 
up to the age of 6 years, and then take their places in 1894, 1895, and 1896 on the 
breeding grounds as 6 and 7 year old bulls. They must reach this age before they 
can serve. 

In 1894 and 1895 a few hundred 4-year-old male seals may have escaped the club 
on the killing grounds and gone onto the rookeries as 6 and 7 year olds in 1896 
and 1897. 

But, however, in 1896 no 3-year-old seal ever passed over the killing grounds 
which was not killed in 1897 as a 4-year-old; and 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



69 



In 1897 no 3-year-old escaped the killers' club except to die on the killing grounds 
in 1898 as a 4-year-old; and 

In 1898 the recoM of 1897 was repeated to the letter on these killing grounds of 
St. Paul and St. George islands; and 

In 1899 no 2-year-old seal was permitted to escape on these grounds unless to die 
as a 3-year-old in 1900; and 

In 1900 no well-grown 1-year-old seal was spared on these slaughter fields except 
to die under the club as a 2-year-old in 1901; and 

In 1901 every yearling that came ashore was taken unless "runty," and if a few 
escaped they were killed in 1902 as 2-year-olds; and 

In 1902 every young male seal that landed was taken, so that the work of 1901 was 
rigorously duplicated; and 

In 1903 every young male that landed and could be found was taken, being an 
exact duplicate of the work of 1902. 

In this clear light of that close killing of the young male life, as given above, it 
will be seen that no young or fresh male blood has been permitted to mature and 
reach the breeding grounds since 1896. The average life of a breeding bull is from 
15 to 18 years; he can not keep his place on the rookery after that limit to his life, 
for good and obvious reasons. Therefore the youngest bulls to-day upon the rook- 
eries are not less than 12 years old — most of them older. 

An official report in 1902 declares that these breeding bulls had decreased in num- 
ber 25 per cent from their figure of 1901. 

An official report in 1903 again declares a decrease of 17 per cent in the number of 
breeding bulls from 1902, being a decrease of 42 per cent since 1901. 

The close of the season of 1904 will show another decrease of 20 per cent, and in 
1905 again 20 per cent reduction, to the end entirely of this male life in 1906 or 1907, 
unless steps are at once taken to stop all killing on the land of the choice young 
male seals in 1904. 

Henry W. Elliott. 

Washington, March 9, 1904. 



Exhibit F. 

[Memoranda for Ways and Means Committee.] 

A tabulated statement which shows the annual rate of progress to the complete extermination 
of the fur-seal herd of Alaska vjhich ivlll take effect under existing rides and regidations 
hij 1907 unless checked by Congress in 1904- 



1 
Pribilof Island fur seals, class 




Number of, in— 






of, alive on the islands. -^g^g 


1904. 


1905. 


1906. 


1907. 


1908. 


1909. 


Old bulls (youngest to-day is 
12 years o'f age) 2, 200 


1,650 
56,250 

5,000 

56, 250 

500 

6,000 


1,165 

37,885 
3,000 

37, 885 

300 

4,000 


400 
22,825 
2, 300? 
20, 000? 
300? 
2,000? 


150? 
15, 000? 

500? 
10, 000? 

(?) 
500? 


(?) 

5,000? 
None. 
5,000? 

None. 
(?) 


None. 


Pupping cows (alive Aug. 1) . . 65, 000 
Virgin cows (alive Aug. 1) . . . . 10, 000 

Pups ( barn June and July) '• 65, 000 

Male yearlings (alive Aug. 1).. 1,000 
Female yearlings (alive Aug. 1)' 10,000 


3,000? 


None. 


None. 


Total ! 153, 200 


125, 650 


84, 235 


48, 625? 


26, 250? 


10,000? 3,000? 


Land catch to Aug. 1 ' 19, 252 

Pelagic catch to Nov. 1 | 25, 000 


16, 000 
20,000 


8,000 
15,000 


(?) 
12,000 


None. 
10, 000? 






6,000? 


None. 


Total 44, 252 


36,000 


23,000 


12, 000 


10,000? 


6, 000? 


(?) 



EXPLANATORY REMARKS. 

Owing to the fact that the youngest of these old breeding bulls now left alive up to 
1st of last August was then at least 12 years old, and that the natural service imposed 
upon it, as a rule, ends its life in its 16th or 18th year, this life is rapidly passing 
away, since 42 per cent of its entire number of 1901 disappeared in 1903 — not a single 
young male in sight alive and old enough to reach these breeding bulls before 1907, 
even if every one of them is spared next summer (1904). 

No young male seal above 2 years of age will appear next season (1904) on the 
hauling grounds. Therefore, unless we stop by act of Congress the killing by the 
lessees entirely, and at once, and for an indefinite time to come, no fresh young male 
life can mature quickly enough to come onto the breeding grounds and save the birth 



70 



FUK SEALS OF ALASKA. 



rate there from total collapse in 1907. Even if this is done now, it will be a close 
call for that life, anyhow. 

To permit any resumption of the work of the lessees in 1904 is to stain our own 
hands with the sin and shame of the complete extermination of this anomalous, 
wonderful, and hannless marine life. This result will ensue as sure as fate unless 
the killinu; of the lessees is at once suspended on the Seal Islands of Alaska. 

The full number of old l)ulls carried on the above table from 1903 to 1907 repre- 
sents all that will be seen in those years and alive on the breeding grounds, but this 
number is greater, much greater, every season than the real number of virile or 
potent sires. For instance, in 1903 we count 2,200 old bulls, but a large number of 
them are lying upon the rookery ground without cows. Why do they thus lie idle, 
when the bulls in active service around them have more than twice as many cows in 
1903 to serve as they had in 1900? Those bulls in service in 1903 had an average of 
44 cows to the harem, when in 1900 they did not have over 22, and which latter ratio 
is the normal one. 

The answer is, these bulls were thus idle because they had lost, through age, that 
vigor necessary to attract, serve, and control a harem. 

I saw this same order of affairs on these Pribilof breeding grounds in 1890, and I 
at once raised the note of alarm; then stopped the killing of the lessees on July 20, 
when only 19,000 of the 60,000 quota had been secured; then forced my modus 
Vivendi through, in 1891, June 14, which checked all the work of the lessees and 
only permitted the killing of 7,500 food seals for the natives' use in 1891, 1892, and 
1893 on these islands. 

Therefore those bulls which were seen alive on the breeding grounds last summer, 
and which we will continue to observe until 1907, are the survivors of the young 
males— the 2, 3, and 4 year olds which were saved by the modus vivendi of 1891, 
1892, and 1893, plus a few 3 and 4 year olds which may have slipped through over 
the killing grounds in 1894 and 1895. 

But since 1896 no fresh young male blood has been permitted to pass the club on 
the killing grounds of St. Paul and St. George islands; that work unchecked and not 
entirely suspended will result in the total collapse of the birth rate by 1905 and 1907. 

In full explanation and of indisputable justification of the foregoing anticipation of 
the complete extermination of the male fur-seal life on the Pribilof Islands, I submit 
the following: 

Table made up from the annual record of London sales, vhere all of the Pribilof fur-sea 
skins have been sold since 1870, doicn to date. 



Season of— 


"Prime," 
or 8 to 9 

pound 
skins (3 

and 4 

year 

olds). 


"Short," 
or 5i to 6 

pound 

skins (2- 

vear 

olds) . 


"Eye- 
plasters," 
or 4J to 5 

pound 

skins (1- 

vear 

olds). 


Total 
catch. 


Remarks. 


1872 


100,000 

3, .588 

2,251 

5, 549 
7, 500 
12,000 

10,500 

8,000 

5, 000 

3,000 

2,700 

2,200 

1,826 

1,311 

646 


None. 

10,048 
10, 000 
2,000 


None. 

7,314 


100,000 

20,950 

12, 251 

7, 549 
7,500 
16, 031 

15,000 

30, 000 

20, 960 

18,031 

16,812 

22, 470 
22, 672 
22, 092 
15,180 


Secured in 4 working weeks in June and 


1890 


July. 
Lessees tried to get 60,000 "prime" skins; 


1891 


could not; killing stopped July 20. 
Modus Vivendi: Killing restricted to 7,500 
for the year. 
Do. 


1892 




1893 




Do. 


1894 


4,031 
4, 500 
16, 000 

12, 960 

8,000 

5, 500 

0, 000 
4,886 
3,903 
1,500 




Lessees strained every nerve to get 30,000 


1895 




"prime" skins; they could not. 

Lessees make desperate effort to get 30,000 
"prime" skins; fail. 

Lessees take full quota; drive desperately to 
7th August, but fail in "prime" and short 
skins; lowrst prices since 1876. 

Lessees fail to take f\ill quota; drive desper- 
ately; avoid the small skins; price in Lon- 
don" is too low; lowest ever known since 
1876. 

Lessees refuse to take full quota, since they 
can not get "prime" skins. Prices advance 
15 i>er cent in London. 

Prices advance 20 per cent in London over 
figures of 1S9S; orders given for all the 5- 
pound skins in 1900. 

Price is up; get everything in 1901. 

Price is up; get everything in 1902. 

Price is up; get everything in 1903. 

Price is up; get everything in 1904. 


1896 


6,000 
3,000 

7,031 

9,000 

14, 000 
16, 000 
16, 878 
13, 034 


1897 


1898...., 

1899 


1900 


1901 


1902 


1903a 





aOnly 15,180 skins out of 19,212 taken in 1903 were .sold December 17, 1903; the balance of the catch' 
some 4,000 skins, held over to December 17, 1904. 



FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 7l 

Oliserve the eloquent and impressive significance of the contrast made in the above 
table between the catches of 1894 and 1903: In 1894, out of a total of 16,031 skins, 
12,000 were "prime;" in 1903, out of a total of 15,180 skins, only 646 were "prime!" 

Thus these figures, which are correct beyond the shadow of error, show beyond 
contradiction or argument that is sensible or honest that the lessees have left nothing 
of the young male life on the seal islands alive worthy of notice at the close of their 
work, August 1, 1903, except the pups born that season in June and July, and which 
they will kill, if permitted, as eyeplasters in 1904. If they are permitted they will get 
everyone that hauls out. 

What better warrant can be desired b}^ the committee for suspension of the lessees' 
work "at once and indefinitely" than the testimony of these figures as given above? 

Henry W. Elliott. 

March 9, 1904. 



Exhibit G. 

[Memorandum (D) for Ways and Means Committee.] 

In re sizes of seals taken, catch of 1903, shovnng that females were killed. 

The number of fur seals taken by the lessees on the seal islands of Alaska, season 
of 1903, was 19,212. They were permitted to get 30,000 if they could find them, but, 
with every effort, they could not. 

Of these, 15,180 were sold in London December 17, 1903. 

The catalogue of this sale shows the following sizes and ages of those skins, each 
skin being so assorted and stamped by an expert. The balance of the catch was held 
over for the next December sales. 

Catch of Pribilof Islands, season of 1903. 

Skins. 

4-year-old skins, 9 to 11 pounds each, or "prime" 72 

3-year-old skins, 7 to 8 pounds each, or ' ' prime " 574 

2-year-old skins, 6-pound skins, or ' ' short " 1 , 500 

1 -year-old skins, 3j to 5 pounds each, or "eyeplasters" 13,034 

Total 15,180 

Thus, the committee observe that out of 15,180 skins taken on the islands last sum- 
mer, 13,034 of them were vearlings, or the pups born in 1902 — nothing else left alive 
to kill. 

Male and female yearlings are exactly alike in size, color of coats, and weight. 
They can not be distinguished apart as to sex when driven up together on to the killing 
grounds, unless each seal is separately seized, turned over, and examined. There- 
fore, any killing of yearling seals is again.st the law. They can not be killed without 
killing females unless each and every seal is handled prior to clubbing it. This 
handling never has been done by our people; it is impracticable. 

Seal pups are born equal in number as to sex. They grow up as yearlings and as 
2-year olds are exactly alike as to outward shape and markings, color of coats, etc. 
The skin of a normal 2-year-old male seal is about one-half pound heavier than that 
of a 2-year-old female, i. e., 6 pounds for the male and 5^ pounds for the female. 
There is no difference otherwise as to quality. 

Therefore this "killing" which is here thus witnessed in the London sales on St. 
Paul Island, June and July, 1903, must liave included female seals; it could not have 
been otherwise; but the law <leclares that a female seal shall not be killed there 
under fine of not more than |1,000 for each animal so killed, or imprisonment of not 
less than six months, etc. 

That this work on the seal islands of Alaska of taking yearling seals has been steadily 
increased since 1899, these London sale catalogues declare most authoritatively. 

It becomes imperative therefore to prevent it. 

Henry W. Elliott. 

March 9, 1904. 

Note, supplemental. — The driving annually after the lessees have salted and 
shipped their skins from the islands is called "food skin" driving; but just the same 
rules and order of killing is followed as in the work of killing which begins the sea- 
son's work. "Food drives" are steadily made until the last seals depart in December. 
In this way the lessees get every seal that hauls out that they want to get; they want 
them all. 

H. W. E. 



72 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Exhibit H. 

[.Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee.] 

SECKETARY SHAw's REPORT ON THE CONDITION OF THE ALASKAN FUR-SEAL HERD FOR 
1902, SENT TO CONGRESS DECEMBER 3. 

No one questions the personal integrity and ability of Secretary Shaw; but that he 
can be imposed upon and Uiade to present the following travesty upon the condition 
of the fur-seal herd of Alaska is indisputable. In his first annual report to Con- 
gress, on page 80, he says: 

"As 22,410 seal skins vere taken from the islands in 1900 and 22,672 in 1901, the catch 
of 22,304 skins in the current year is veri/ gratifying, and tends to show that the seal herd, is 
not decreasing in number as rapidlg as heretofore. 

"The consul at Victoria, British Columbia, reports, through the Department of 
State, that a British sealing fleet comprising 23 vessels in the spring of 1902 took 1 ,611 
male and 1,562 female seals — in all 3,17S — -which number is less than one-half of the 
catch of the same fleet, comprising 28 vessels, in the si)ring of 1901 and less than one- 
fifth of the number taken by 33 vessels in the spring of 1900. A prelinnnary report 
from the consul at Victoria of the summer catch of the British sealing fleet shows 
that 11 vessels have returned to that port with 4,4^6 seal skins. Four other vessels 
lately arrived, and 9 yet to arrive are not included in these figures. The average 
catch for each vessel for the current year, so far as reported, is 224 skins j:>er vessel. 
The official report of the catch of the British sealing fleet in 1901, received in March 
last, shows that 39 vessels took 24,422 seals on the coast of British Columbia and 
Japan in the vicinity of Copper Island and in Bering Sea — an average of 626 skins 
for each vessel. The greatly diminished cateJi of the British sealing fleet in the last two 
seasons undoubtedly accounts in great measure for the more stable condition of tlie Pribilof 
herd as indicated by the number of seals taken by the lessees of those islands since 
1899." 

Is this the truth, even faintly expressed, as to the condition of this herd, which 
Congress has in these words received from him? 

No; it is not. That "very gratifying statement" as to the catches in 1900, 1901, 
and the current year 1902, "which tends to show that the seal herd is not decreas- 
ing in number as rapidly as heretofore," is a sad error. OVjserve the following analy- 
sis of these catches: 

Out of 22,470 skins taken in 1900, 2,200 were "prime" skins and 14,000 were 
"eve plasters." Out of 22,672 skins taken in 1901, 1,826 were "prime" skins and 
16,000 were "eye plasters." Out of 22,304 skins taken in 1902, 1,311 were "prime" 
skins and 16,878 were "eye plasters." But out of 16,031 skins taken in 1894, 12,000 
were "prime" skins and no "eye plasters. " 

Note the significance of that contrast, 1894-1902, and it is a dull mind that can 
not grasp the fact that it declares that in 1900, 1901, and 1902 the lessees are draining 
the very dregs of the young male life — hurrying it into complete extermination. 
"Very gratifying," indeed! 

This is quite unfortunate, but what follows is even more so: 

Mr. Shaw tells us that only 7,219 skins have been taken this season (1902) by the 
pelagic hunting fleet, when in truth 22,812 skins were taken by these hunters. This 
gives us an average of over 800 skins to the vessel, instead of only "244 skins per 
vessel." 

This official failure to inform Congress that the season of 1902 was the most profit- 
able one ever known to the pelagic hunter per vessel employed is fairly improper. 
It is also still more improper because on September 16, 1902, the Department had 
official information that a new force of pelagic destruction to the herd had appeared 
on the scene, and yet it does not appear to be deemed worthy of Mr. Shaw's notice. 
I allude to the "Japanese" fleet. 

Then, too, he is officially informed on August 25, 1902, that the breeding bulls on 
the seal islands rookeries "have fallen off 25 per cent in number" from what they 
were in 1901; yet he tells Congress that this herd is in a " more stable condition" 
than heretofore. 

Mr. Shaw was warned a few days after he entered the office of Secretary of the 
Treasury, February 21, 1902, that he was being imposed upon by his subordinates 
who had charge of the fur-seal business in the Department; he had documentary 
evidence of the fact submitted to him, but he seems to have forgotten the lesson or 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 73 

he ignored it. Now, these facts rise up to plague him, because there is no question 
of the sincerity and honesty of the man, at least in my opinion there is none. 

On the 20th of August, 1902, the Treasury Department gave out the following 
statement to the Associated Press: 

FOUND A NEW SEAL ROOKERY — REVENUE CUTTER MAKES AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY IN THE 

ALEUTIAN ISLANDS. 

Captain Shoemaker, of the Revenue-Cutter Service, has received a report from 
Capt. Charles H. McLelan, commanding the cutter Manning, recording the discovery 
of a new fur-seal rookery in the Aleutian Islands. 

The Manning went to the Aleutian Islands in accordance with instructions from 
Captain Shoemaker, who had received information through the natives of the exist- 
ence of a seal herd near the western end of the long chain of islands. While cruis- 
ing among the islands early in July, as the executive officer of the Manning, 
Lieutenant Berthoff went ashore with a boat's crew on the island of Bouldyer. 
There he found a rookery of fur seals similar to those found on the Pribilof Islands. 
Lieutenant Berthoff approached the herd closely enough to observe that none of the 
seals had been ]>randed, anfl that there was no sign that white men in search of fur 
seal had ever been near the island. 

The Manning will continue searching to discover if there are other rookeries in 
that locality. The suggestion is made that these islands may be one of the rendez- 
vous of the fur seals during their absence from the Pribilof Islands. The discovery 
is considered important by the officials here in view of the gradual decline of the 
fur seal on the Pribilof Islands. 

I at once saw the error and the mischief of this official statement, and under date 
of August 20, 1902, I addressed a letter to Secretary Hay, State Department, pointing 
out the blunder, a copy of which I mailed to Secretary Shaw, of the Treasury, even 
date, from Cleveland. 

The State Department looked into the matter, and soon gave out the following 
statement: 

ALLEGED SEAL ROOKERY— THE DISCOVERY' BY CAPTAIN M'LELAN DISCREDITED. 

The recent reported discovery by the captain of the revenue cutter Manning of a 
new seal rookery near Aleutian Islands has been brought to the attention of the State 
Department, where it has been immediately investigated. The report, if accurate, 
would be of the greatest importance, for it will go far toward sustaining the conten- 
tion of the Canadian seal fishers that there has not really been any diminution of fur 
seal in Alaskan waters; that there are as many fur seal as ever in the open sea, and 
that what has happened has simply been an abandonment by the fur seals of their 
old rookeries — the Pribilof Islands. 

The investigations of Henry W . Elliott, the fur-seal expert of the Government for 
many years, has lead the officials of the State Department to the conclusion that the 
report of the captain of the Manning is erroneous. The place where these seals were 
reported to have been found was on Buldir Island, more than 600 miles distant 
from the Pribilof Islands. Mr. Elliott's conclusion is that what Captain McLellan 
of the Manning actually saw was a number of young sea lions, which he had already 
known to frequent Buldir Island and vicinity, and are easily mistaken for seals. 
But if fur seals were actually seen by the Manning's people, then Mr. Elliott reports 
they must surely be stragglers, not from the distant Pribilof Islands, but from the 
kussian herd, most likely from Copper Island of the Commander group, which is 
about only 200 miles distant, and is approached as close as 80 to 100 miles by the 
Russian herd on their leaving and efltering the Bering Sea. Mr. Elliott further finds 
that, whereas, straggling bands of young male fur seal have been found as far clis- 
tant from Alaska as San Francisco, and on Middleton Island in the north Pacific 
Ocean, 200 miles west of Copper River mouth, these seal, the Pribilof seals, Avere 
attracted to those places by the sea lions which were breeding there at the time, 
and, no sign of a breeding rookery of Alaskan fur seals away from the Pribilof 
Islands has ever been ciiscovered. — (Star, Washington, August 28, 1902.) 

But what did the Treasury Department do? It acknowledged the receipt of my 
letter, under date of August 28, 1902, saying my "communication of the 20th instant, 
* * * will receive immediate attention and a full reply will be sent you at the 
earliest possible moment." 

What was that reply? Nothing until I read in the report of the Secretary of the 



74 FUE SEALS OF ALASKA. 

Treasury, Decembers, 1902, under liead of "Alaska: Seal herd," on page 30, the fol- 
lowing reatlirmation of the nonsense and mischief, to wit: 

"Capt. C H. McLellan, commander of the revenue steamer Manning, reported in 
July last thftindi)ig of a seal roukcrji on BnJdir Island, in (lie Aleutian grouj). The skin 
of a pup seal was taken from this rookery, and experts have pronounced it to l)e that 
of the fur seal. It is reasonable to sajipose that there are fur seals on other islands of the 
Aleutian chain. This fact will be determined by investigation during the next season. 
In the meantime it is suggested that a sufficient appropriation be made to protect the 
Buldir Island rookery, and any other that may be discovered hereafter, from the 
unlawful depredations of the seal hunters. If the herd can be left to develop, it may 
prove valuable; and it will be utterly destroyed by theseal huntersunless protected."— 
[Italics mine.] 

This last season of 1903, Captain McLellan goes again to Buldir Island; he makes 
an energetic search for the new " seal rookery on Buldir Island." Does he find it? 
No. Does the Secretary of the Treasury in his report for 1903, submitted to Congress 
last December, say anything about it? No. Why? Because Captain Mi'Lellan 
reported to the Department on October 7, 1903, that he "did not find a trace of fur- 
seal life on Buldir Island," this year, where he "discovered" last year a new fur- 
seal rookery in July, as stated above by the Department in December, 1902. Not a 
word about this confirmation by ]McLellan himself, of the sense and truth of my 
denial, a year before, of the "discovery." 

It is this sort of information about the fur seals that has been filtered into the 
Treasury Department, without break, since 1890; and this shows clearly to the com- 
mittee why the condition of affairs on the seal islands has never been truly or 
adequately described in the reports of the Treasury Department since 1890. 

Henry W. Elliott. 

March 9, 190-1. 



Exhibit I. 

[Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee.] 

AN EPITOME OF THE REPORT OP 1903, SUBMITTED BY SECRETARY SHAW, TREASURY 
DEPARTMENT, DECEMBER 8, TO CONCiRESS (p. 43) ON THE STATUS OF THE ALASKAN 
FUR-SEAL HERD. 

In this report Mr. Shaw makes only a brief mention of the subject. He itemizes 
the season's catch on the islands, but he fails to give a single figure as to the pelagic 
catch for the season. This was big enough for him to notice. It was 27,000 skins 
against the land catch, which he cites as 19,292. 

He makes no recommendation that the land killing be checked, but repeats the 
stale untruth that the loss of life, which he notes this year, is due solely to pelagic 
sealing. 

He says that "only the surplus males are taken on the islands." He should have 
said, and then said truly, that "all the surplus males were taken on the islands" to 
get the catch which he reports. 

He makes no reference to the failure of his agents to locate that "new fur-seal 
rookery" on Buldir Island, which he asked Congress to protect with an appropria- 
tion last year. 

On the 1st of July the fur-seal business passed from the Treasury Department to 
the Department of Commerce and Labor. 

AN EPITOME OF SECRETARY CORTELYOU S FIRST REPORT TO CONGRESS, ON DECEMBER 9, 
1903, WHICH RELATES TO THE FUR-SEAL HERD. (p. 43.) 

Mr. Cortelyou takes up the subject July 1, 1903, and has no opportunity to get 
any information officially, except as it is turned over to him by the old Treasury 
machine, which has fogged this question up successfully in that Department since 
1896. 

Therefore he makes no recommendation that the killing by the lessees be stopped 
on the islands; but he should have brought out the fact that the pelagic hunters 
have taken 27,000 skins from our herd in the season just ended. 

He brings out the agent's report that the "breeding bulls have decreased 42 per 
cent, while the breeding cows have increased 9 per cent, in the last three years." 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



75 



This seems to have given Mr. Cortelyou a warning which so impressed him that 
he omits the regular stale official untruth in his report about "pelagic sealing as 
being the sole cause of loss of life in the fur-seal herd." 

These cows have not increased; but they have not decreased, in proportion, half, 
or a three-quarter rate even, as fast as the old males have. There is where the danger 
lies at this hour. 

Henry W. Elliott. 



Exhibit J. 

The following tabulations are from the report of the Ways and Means Committee 
of June 2, 1902. The first table shows the close similarity of — 

CONTRAST BETWEEN THE RUSSIAN AND AMERICAN RECORDS OF DECLINE IN THE LIFE OF 
THE PRIBILOF FUR-SEAL HERD. 

The Canadian hunter will never voluntarily give up an industry that is paying 
him over 100 per cent profit, no matter what the ultimate consequence to mankind 
or seal life may be of his continuing in the Vjusiness of pelagic sealing. Long before 
he ceases to find female seals at sea the young male life will have been destroyed on 
the islands. In proof of this statement your committee submit the following statis- 
tics covering the period of Russian diminution, 1817-1834, with that of the American 
period, beginning in 1889: 



The Russian 

period of diminution, 

1817-1834. 




The American period of diminution, 1889-1907. 


Year. 


Seals 
taken. 


Year. 


Seals 
taken. 


Remarks. 

("Prime" skin, 8 to 9 pounds; "short" skin, 6 pounds; 

" eye plasters," 4 to 4i pounds.) 


1817 

1818 

1819 

1820 

1821 

1822 

1823 

1824 

1825 

1826 

1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 

1831 

1832 

1833 

1834 

1835 


60,188 
59, 856 
52,225 
50, 229 
40,995 
36,469 
29, 873 
25, 400 
30, 100 
23, 250 
19, 700 
23, 288 
20,811 
18,034 
16, 034 
16, 431 
16,412 
15, 751 
100 


1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898.. 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

1906 

1907 


100,000 

28, 000 

14,000 

7, 500 

7,500 

16,034 

15, 000 

30, 000 

20,766 

18, 032 

16, 812 

22, 470 

22, 672 

18, 000 

16,000 

16, 000 

8,000 

1,000 

None. 


i "prime" skins, i "short" skins, | "eye plasters." 
i "prime" skins, i "short" skins. 
All "prime" skins. Modus vlvendi. 

Do. 

Do. 
All "prime" skins. 
1 "prime" skins, J "short." 
i "prime" skins, i "short," j "eye plasters." 
j "prime" skins, | "short." 

Do. 

Do. 
i "prime" skins, i "short," i "eye plasters." 
iV "prime" skins, j% "short," /c"" eye plasters." 
i "short" skins, | " eye plasters;" can or will be taken. 
All " eve plasters;" can or will be taken. 

Do". 

Do. 

Do. 
The end of the young male life on the islands. 



["Prime" seals are 3 and 4 year olds; "short" are 2-year-olds; "eye plasters" are 1-year-olds.] 
In 1834 only 8,118 young seals, males and females, were left alive to breed on St. Paul Island. In 
1835 the Russians stopped the kil'iing, and so saved the herd from immediate extermination. 

Note. — Since 1890 the male life above the age of pups has been reduced by land and sea killing 
from the proportion of nearly one-half of the total number in 1874 to less than one-fifth in 1890, and 
it is doubtful if it amounts to more than one-eighth of the total for this year. The 224,000 seals of all 
classes as estimated on the islands for 19C2 will consist of about 4.000 old bulls, 100.000 females, 80,000 
pups, and 40,000 yearlings. Half of these yearlings are males. When they return this summer as 
yearlings they will all be taken as they haul out on the islands between May and November. If any 
of them escape, they are sure to be taken as 2-year-olds in 1903. Their skins are too valuable to 
be left for the Canadians, who will get them if our people do not kill them, so the candle is burning 
at both ends, and furiously. It is easy to understand the end of it by the sudden elimination of this 
male life not later than 1906, under existing laws, regulations, and trade conditions. 



The Russian figures in the foregoing table are taken from Veniaminov, Zapieskie, 
and those relating to our own work, 1889-1901, are from the trade catalogues of the 
London sales, where the Alaskan skins have all been sold at public auction since 
1871. The significant classification of sizes annually taken on the islands, which 
declares that in 1901 we were draining the dregs of the male life, is found in these 
records of the London sales, and there is no appeal from the perfect truth of the 
figures. (Report No. 2303, Ways and Means Committee, June 2, 1902, 57th Cong., 
1st sess., pp. 4-5.) 



76 



FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 



Exhibit C. — Annual .sr«/ island and pelagic fur-seal catch and average prices per skin 
from 1871 to 1903, inclusire. 





Pribilof Islands: 
Island catch. 


Bering Sea and 

Northern Pacific: 

Pelagic catch. 


Year. 


"?aiS^= N^e^rn^^^a^liii 
island catch. peiagic catch. 


Year. 


Number 
of skins. 


Aver- 
age 

price 
per 

skin. 


Number 
of skins. 


Aver- 
age 

price 
per 

skin. 

»2.40 
2.40 

""s.'So' 

9.00 
5.25 

"is .'66' 
14.00 
7.80 
5.10 
6.30 
6.75 
6.50 
7.00 
7.70 


Number 
of skins. 


Aver- 
age 

price 
per 

skin. 


Number 
of skins. 


Aver- 
age 

price 
per 

skin. 


1871 


102, 960 
108, 819 
109, 107 
110, 585 
106, 460 
94, 657 
84, 310 
109,323 
110,411 
10.5,514 
105,630 
99,812 
79, 509 
105, 584 
105,024 
104, .581 
105, 760 


110. 50 
11.20 
13.00 
13.10 
12.75 
8.75 
9.76 
9.80 
21.20 
22. 25 
19. 75 
13.60 
20.20 
12. 75 
14.20 
17.10 
14.00 


16,911 

5,336 

5,229 

5,825 

5, 033 

5,515 

5,210 

5,540 

8,557 

8,418 

10, 382 

15, 581 

16, 587 

16, 971 

23, 040 

28, 494 

30,628 


1888 


103, 301 
102,617 

28, 859 


119.50 
17.00 
36.50 
30.00 
30.00 
27.00 
20.50 
20.25 
17.00 
15. .50 
16.00 
26.00 
32.00 
34.00 
32. 50 
29.50 


36,389 
29,858 
40, 814 
59, 668 
46, 642 
30, 812 


$7.80 


1872 . . 


1889 


9.75 


1873 


1890 


15. 25 


1874 


1891 

1892 

1893 


12, 040 
7, 511 
7,396 


15. 75 


1875 

1876 


17.00 
12. .50 


1877 


1894 


10, 270 
14, 846 
30,6.54 
19, 200 
18,047 
16, 812 
22,470 
22, 672 
22, 190 
19,212 


61,838 ' 8.75 


1878 


1895 


56,291 10.25 


1 79 


1896 


43,917 8.00 


1880 


1897 


24,332 6.50 


1881 


1898 


28,552 ' 6.50 


1882 


1899 


34,168 ' 10.25 


1883 


1900 


35,191 1 16.00 


1884 


1901 

1902 


24,050 1 1.5.25 


1885 


22,812 19.25 


1886 


1903 


27,000 18.50 


1887 











Note. — These prices are the averages of the catches which the London annual sale catalogues 
record, and are taken from them. 

The Alaskan seals have all l)een .sold in London since 1871, at the public auction sales of Mes.srs. 
C. M. Lamiisdii .Sons, the Hudson's Bay Company, and Culverwell, Brookes & Co. (Rept. No. 2303, 
Ways and Means Committee, June 2, 1902, p. 7.) 



E.XHIBIT K. 

[Memorandum for Ways and Means Committee, by Henry W. Elliott, March 9, 1904.] 

AS TO THE LEASE OF THE LESSEES OP THE SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA, DATED MAY 1, 

1890. 

Opinions of Thomas B. Reed, W. L. Wilson, Henry G. Turner, Benton McMillan, 
February 18-20, 1895, as a subcommittee of the Ways and Means Committee, on the 
question of whether the Government had the legal right to completely suspend the 
lessees of the seal islands from killing fur seals, under the terms of the Windom lease, 
dated May 1, 1890: 

The question being raised pending the consideration of the House bill 8633, intro- 
duced bj' Governor Nelson Dingley, jr., the attorney for the lessees. Gen. N. L. Jef- 
fries, argued at length against the right of the Government to completely suspend the 
work of the lessees, as the terms of the pending bill ordered. 

Thereupon the subcommittee held: 

"(1) That the clause in the lease which binds the lessees to 'obey and abide by 
any restrictions or limitations upon the right to kill seals that the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall judge necessary, under the law, for the preservation of the seal fish- 
eries of the United States,' enables the Government (the Secretary of the Treasury 
being the agent only of Congress) at any time to completely restrict or suspend the 
work of the lessees. This authority for this restriction is found in section 3 of the 
act approved July 1, 1870. 

" (2) That the right to kill seals for natives' food is expressly reserved by section 
1, act approved July 1, 1870, for the Government, and is not covered or merged into 
the terms of the lease which are authorized by section 4 of act approved July 1, 1870." 

This report of the .subcommittee was unanimous. It was unanimously adopted by 
the full committee, and the bill reported favorably to the House by Chairman Wil- 
son. (Report No. 1849, 53d Cong., 3d sess. ) 



UiJL'C4 



^ 



